China News Service, Huzhou, March 5 (Hu Fengsheng, Huang Yanjun, Song Haoliang) In March, the weather is getting warmer, and crab farmers on the south bank of Taihu Lake have kicked off the new year's "spring farming on the water".
In the past few days, in the Crystal Ecological Smart Breeding Park of more than 1,000 acres in Nanxun Economic Development Zone (Dongqian Street), Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, they are seizing the farming season and intensively launching crab seedlings.
Crab farmers are releasing crab seedlings.
Photo provided by Song Haoliang
Early in the morning, crab farmer He Chenglin fished crab seedlings from his own crab seedling pond. The young crabs, which had been cultivated for more than 270 days, were waving their claws vigorously. They had to undergo further screening before being released into the pond.
"Seedlings like this have been cultivated in my own pond since May last year and can be planted when the temperature rises." He Chenglin said that this year is his seventh year of breeding hairy crabs.
He said that due to climate reasons, the harvest of crab ponds will be average in 2023. This year, he plans to strengthen technical cooperation with the park and contract an additional 50 acres of ponds to prepare for a turnaround.
Taihu crab.
Photo provided by Song Haoliang
Taihu crab grows in the waters of Taihu Lake. Its back shell is strong and concave like a tiger, green and black in color, green and white in the belly, with an umbilicus under the belly, a male tip and a female mass with hard hairs inside.
The crab is large and heavy, with thick roe, tender meat, and unusual plumpness. It is famous in the Yangtze River Delta region for its "green shell, white belly, golden claws, yellow hair, and strong body."
In order to allow the crab seedlings to better adapt to the new environment of the pond, He Chenglin disinfected and fertilized the crab pond years ago, and put the crabs into the pond fence one day in advance to increase the survival rate of the crab seedlings.
"Water quality is very important when raising crabs. Before planting seedlings, we need to spend half a month to maintain the water quality." He Chenglin said that the amount of crab seedlings per acre is controlled at about 1,300, and the growth environment will be better.
"We do a good job in guiding farmers during the spring plowing season. Through digital transformation, we can timely detect the breeding environment, which can reduce labor costs and improve work efficiency." Relevant staff of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Office of Dongqian Street, Nanxun District introduced, through Cooperating with major universities to innovate local ecological breeding models and create specialty agricultural products brands can win more sales orders for farmers, increase their income and make them rich.
Crab pond on the south bank of Taihu Lake.
Photo provided by Song Haoliang
After several years of exploration, Taihu crab breeding technology has become increasingly mature. As of now, there are more than 8,000 acres of crab ponds in Nanxun, Huzhou, with a total of 11 million crab seedlings.
(over)