Crayfish are common in humid southern China, but arid Xinjiang is very rare. Speaking of crayfish farming, the familiar ones are Qianjiang City in Hubei, Xinghua City in Jiangsu, and Quanjiao County in Anhui. So in the northwestern Xinjiang region, is it possible to cultivate crayfish on the edge of the desert?

Southern Shrimp Farming Model "Broke Halberd" Desert Side Reservoir

　　The owner of the crayfish farming is Liu Fei. He is from Suzhou, Anhui. He used to be a crayfish farmer, but the price of the local crayfish is not high, so he gave up farming. Seven years ago, he came to Shanshan County, Xinjiang to do business, and found that crayfish at the booth of the Shanshan night market are more popular. Because crayfish are transported by air, the price is much higher than Anhui. So, he wondered: "Can we cultivate crayfish in Shanshan to achieve localized supply of crayfish and reduce the cost of crayfish in supper shops."

　　Before breeding, he did a market survey. He found that several people in Shanshan County had raised crayfish, but all of them were unsuccessful. The main reason is that the first few shrimp farmers copied the shrimp farming experience in the southern region. For example, their shrimp ponds were artificially dug ponds. However, this kind of pond is suitable for shrimp farming in the southern region, and is not suitable for Shanshan County, because compared with the southern region, Shanshan has strong sunshine, large temperature difference between day and night, high temperature in summer, and low temperature in winter. But because there is no living water, even if the depth of the water reaches 2 meters, the relative constant temperature cannot be maintained, so the crayfish is either hot or frozen to death, it is difficult to survive.

　　Liu Fei was not discouraged. He consulted many crayfish farming experts and combined his own farming experience. He believes that to cultivate crayfish in Shanshan, we must first find a pond with live water and suitable depth.

　　Liu Fei, who usually likes fishing, once came to Aizila Village, Dongbazha Hui Township, Shanshan County, and found that there is an abandoned pond that has not dried up for many years. The area is about 7 acres and the depth is between 1.5 and 2 meters. There is underground spring water, the water quality of the pond is excellent, and the water temperature is relatively stable. This is the good place for the crayfish he is looking for. After that, Liu Fei negotiated with the local government to participate in the rent auction and successfully rented the pond.

　　The pond rented by Liu Fei is covered with lush reeds, and the water in the pond is relatively clear, basically maintaining the original ecology. Not far from the pond is the Kumtag Desert, and the distance between them is about 200 meters.

"Surprise" appeared after 20 days of feeding shrimps into the pond

　　Is this pond suitable for the cultivation of crayfish? Liu Fei was not 100% sure at first.

　　In order to control the risk, he only airlifted more than 400 kilograms of shrimp from Anhui's hometown to the pond for breeding. From the end of June 2019, he went to the pond every day to observe the growth of crayfish.

　　The first 10 days were a torment for Liu Fei, because shrimp died every day. Looking at the dead shrimp floating on the surface of the water, Liu Fei felt very uncomfortable. He was worried that he would also follow the old path of others. But since the shrimp has been invested, this road will go on. He kept comforting himself: "Long-distance transportation will reduce the adaptability of shrimp to the new environment, so the death of crayfish is probably caused by long-distance transportation."

　　About 20 days later, Liu Fei discovered that the crayfish no longer died. Crayfish are nocturnal creatures. They like to be around the pond at night. In order to prove whether there are crayfish alive, he observes the pond with a flashlight at night. Many lobsters appear in the pond for a few days, but they did not appear the next day The phenomenon of dead shrimp was slowly relieved, because according to farming experience, crayfish no longer died after 20 days of cultivation, but there were still shrimp in the pond, indicating that they had adapted to this water.

　　In November 2019, Liu Fei encountered new problems again. November is the season for crayfish to burrow. They will burrow on the shore about 5 cm above the water and spend the winter in the cave. But the desert pond has only sand and no mud. The crayfish made a hole, but the sand hole was not strong and soon collapsed. "It worries me, because without the holes, they will not be able to spend the winter."

　　However, to his surprise, by April 2020, the cold weather had passed. These "immigrant shrimps" not only did not die, but spawned smoothly. The shrimp seedlings also adapted to the environment here and grew rapidly. Liu Fei analyzed that the crayfish probably used the root system of the reeds on the shore to make a solid hiding hole.

Crayfish cultured by the desert was praised as "incredible"

　　After hearing that "Crayfish" was successfully reared in a pond in the desert, it attracted the surrounding people to "see it first" and gave thumbs up to Liu Fei.

　　The villager Kahalgapar bluntly said that it is amazing to raise crayfish in the desert.

　　The local government is very supportive of Liu Fei's crayfish farming, because this abandoned pond is usually used only for irrigation, and now it can increase income for the village in addition to irrigation. Secretary of the village branch Malik. Wumaier introduced that the village arranged people to clear all the debris around the pond, which is convenient for transportation and breeding. In addition, it also actively coordinated the power department to install wires to solve the problem of no electricity in the farm.

　　Liu Fei, who was wearing a waterproof suit, collected the ground cage he had placed the day before. The crawfish he captured were strong and strong. Most of them were around 7 yuan. Nine ground cages harvested a total of 24 kg of crayfish. , Carp, snail and other "wild goods".

　　"The process is very tortuous, but after nearly a year of cultivation, the survival of crayfish is no problem, the next step, I want to test the production." Liu Fei is full of confidence, "Crayfish has a strong reproductive capacity, a year There are more than 10 eggs. Under normal circumstances, one year of shrimp can increase to about 13 kg. According to this standard, crayfish can reach 4200 kg this year. "

Xinjiang's food industry "boiling" an extra dish

　　Xinjiang Shanshan's "desert crayfish" has been successfully cultivated, and the foodies are very happy. Xinjiang cuisine big plate chicken, big plate belly, big plate fish ... Now, Shanshan has a more hospitality dish "big plate crayfish".

　　Little friends, what are you waiting for! bring it on! Welcome to the edge of the desert to taste crayfish, pepper and hemp crayfish, stir-fried crayfish, salt and pepper crayfish ..., eaters, are you drooling! Dear friends, Xinjiang Real Estate Crayfish is waiting for you!

　　Author: Wang Xiaojun Wang Jing Wang Qianqian

　　Drawing: Lu Yongsheng