Shrimp farmer in Dongtai City, Jiangsu devotes himself to crayfish farming: small ponds, big returns

Zhang Junlong, a farmer in Zhangduo Village, Wulie Town, Dongtai City, takes science and technology as his guide and has devoted himself to studying crayfish farming techniques, achieving fairly good economic returns. This year he farmed 20 mu of water surface, sold 3,200 kg of crayfish, achieved sales of 180,000 yuan and a profit of 70,000 yuan, with an average net income of 3,500 yuan per mu.

Choosing the right project

Zhang Junlong has been engaged in aquaculture for many years and has farmed quite a few species in succession, but the returns had always been less than satisfactory. Last year, after investigation he learned that, as living standards rise, the consumer market for crayfish is growing larger and larger, and crayfish have become a common delicacy on ordinary people's dining tables. However, the crayfish sold by seafood vendors in local and nearby markets basically came from small-scale individual farmers, and there were very few large-scale crayfish farmers. At the same time, crayfish farming has a short cycle and quick returns, and crayfish farming is a "sunrise industry" in aquaculture with broad "money prospects". After many rounds of investigation and research, Zhang Junlong developed the idea of farming crayfish and received strong support from the town's agricultural service center. The aquatic technicians from the agricultural center visited his home many times and provided services throughout the whole process, further strengthening Zhang Junlong's confidence in developing crayfish farming.

Mastering the three-character formula

Crayfish farming is skilled work, and blind investment without understanding the techniques only brings risk. Zhang Junlong went many times to Sihong, Xuyi and other places to learn from large crayfish farmers, subscribed to professional publications on aquaculture, devoted himself through the internet to studying crayfish farming techniques, and summed up and reflected on this in light of actual conditions. In practice he developed the experience of mastering the three-character formula of "grass", "water" and "removal" to raise his farming level. Grass means cultivating a pond full of grass. Through a combination of emergent plants and submerged plants, Zhang Junlong uses the photosynthesis of emergent plants to provide enough oxygen for crayfish growth. Water means doing everything possible to improve water quality. He established water quality monitoring records, adjusted promptly according to water quality conditions, regularly used photosynthetic bacteria and applied quicklime to improve water quality, and provided a good environment for crayfish growth. Removal means promptly removing natural enemies. During crayfish growth, they constantly face harm from birds, snakes, rats and carnivorous fish. Through methods such as manually driving off birds and using drugs to remove wild trash fish, he eliminated natural enemies and ensured that crayfish growth had a good ecological environment.

Doing a good job on quality

When crayfish go to market, quality is key. Zhang Junlong started with the release of seedlings, and by means of purification and rejuvenation and selecting the superior while culling the inferior, promptly eliminated small crayfish of poor quality. During the farming process, according to market conditions, he harvested at the right time, catching the large and leaving the small, increasing the yield per unit area. Throughout the entire farming process, the use of pesticides was strictly controlled to ensure ecological, green and pollution-free production. After being put on the market, they were widely welcomed by consumers, and the price per kg was always above 60 yuan.