In 2016, the prospects for leech farming are still viewed favorably
In 2016, the prospects for leech farming remain strong!
In recent years, the market for animal-based Chinese medicinal materials has continued to boom, especially for those whose technology for transitioning from wild to domestic cultivation is still immature or which simply have no artificial breeding technology at all. Although these varieties occasionally experience setbacks along the way, on the whole, even when the entire medicinal materials market environment is in a downturn, most of them can still remain firm and show an upward trend, and leeches are a case in point. In 2016, leech prices continued to rise.
Yiling Pharmaceutical's cardiovascular and cerebrovascular product revenue situation from 2012 to 2014
From the data of Yiling, the manufacturer of China's famous cardiovascular and cerebrovascular medication Tongxinluo, shown in the chart above, it can be seen that in recent years the domestic market for drugs for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases has been growing year by year. As a commonly used raw material drug for treating cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, the demand for leeches naturally increases year by year as well.
In contrast to the year-by-year increase in demand for leeches, after many years of disorderly harvesting, wild leech resources have been greatly damaged, and wild leech output has been declining year after year. Its main production areas have also been forced to shift slowly amid years of destructive and disorderly harvesting. At the same time, however, leech artificial breeding technology is still not satisfactory, so leech prices have embarked on a path of continuous rise for more than ten years.
Historical leech price trend
During the 15 years from 2000 to the present, the price of clean water hanging-dried leeches on the market started at around 120 yuan and rose all the way to the current 1,200-1,250 yuan, an increase of 900%. The high price further stimulated farmers' enthusiasm for harvesting, and the damage caused to leech resources by disorderly harvesting in turn supported today's persistently high leech market.
Against this background, leech artificial breeding technology gradually developed across the country. At present, artificially bred leeches are still mainly Whitmania pigra
Whitmania pigra
and their farming areas are mainly concentrated in Central China, East China, and South China. At present, the farming technology for Whitmania pigra is still immature. According to feedback from a large leech farmer in Yangzhou, although there are now many people farming leeches, fewer than one in ten can be said to succeed, and relying on artificial breeding to guarantee the supply of leeches will probably still require a very long time.
Poecilobdella manillensis
In addition, in provinces and regions such as Yunnan and Guangxi near Southeast Asia, quite a few people are also farming Poecilobdella manillensis. It is understood that the farming technology and product standards for Poecilobdella manillensis have already been verified by the Yunnan government. But as of now, Poecilobdella manillensis has not yet been included in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, and is only included in local standards. Its sales are also mostly in the form of fresh goods and frozen dried goods, and very little enters the market or reaches traditional Chinese medicine enterprises, so its impact on the domestic leech market is very small.
Conclusion: Since entering 2015, affected by factors such as policies, the new pharmacopoeia, flight inspections, and oversupply of most domestically cultivated varieties, the Chinese medicinal materials market has continued to hover in a low trough. Yet amid this sluggish market, wild animal varieties represented by leeches have been able to remain persistently strong and firm at high levels, bringing rays of hopeful sunshine to a medicinal materials market that was once in a downturn. It is worth noting that hope does not mean reality. From other Chinese medicinal materials that are being transformed from wild to cultivated, it can be seen that if reliance is placed only on immature farming technology, then this persistence will also be beyond one's strength. In the 21st century, with technology changing rapidly, the research, development, and promotion of a farming technology actually does not take too long. The development of a variety still requires deep and synchronized development and promotion on the consumption end!
The article comes from China Leech Network http://www.shuizhi360.com/