How to do Mud Crab Farming in India?
Another reason why the farmer is able to
gain more profit is because the farming itself is known have low cost for the
labor and general production. The best thing is that the mud crab is able to
grow pretty fast, thus the money that is spend on the production will be able
to go back in no time. This might be the reason why there are a lot of people
that do commercial mud crab farming in India
since it is also popular business option for coastal people. Furthermore, the
farming itself does not need to be done in large scale, thus almost everyone
can do this business. Even those without a lot of budget still able to farm the
mud crab as long as you know what needs to be done.
Actually there are various types of mud
crab that you can use for the farming done in India. Both are still inside the Scylla
genus but they are separated in different species. The first species is the
green crab and the second species is the red claw. Both species are also very
different, thus you need to decide which one you want to use for your farming. For
the green crab species, it will have larger carapace sizing which can go until
22 centimeters width, then their weight can also go until 2 kilos. Then for the
red claw species, it will have smaller carapace sizing which can go until 12.7
centimeters width, then their weight can also go until 1.2 kilos.
But both species are suitable to be used on
mud crab farming in India since the value of
both species is also very high. For the farming practice that is done, there
are actually two practices that usually used for farming the mud crab. The
first practice is the growing practice and the second practice is the fattening
practice. Both practices are actually a little bit different, thus you might be
interested to know more about the practice first before deciding to use one of
the practices we will discuss below.
On the growing practice that you can do, it
is actually using young crab on the practice. Then the practice done is to grow
the crab so it will get bigger and reach suitable commercial sizing that people
want. Normally this type of practice will take around five until six months to
finish a cycle when the crab has reach suitable commercial sizing that people
want.
The practice for growing
mud crab farming in India is done inside pond with various sizes
according to the production scale that you do. Normally the general practice
will use around half hectare until two hectare of pond size. The pond should have
great water exchange and the bund should also be strong enough. This is why
pond with small sizing is still suitable for this practice as it will be easier
to maintain the pond. Furthermore for the bund, you can build fence around the
pond since it will be stronger. Of course, on larger pond sizing, then natural
bund is still appropriate to be used. However, remember that the bond might
become damaged overtime, thus you will still need to build fences around the
pond later on.
On the fattening practice that you can do,
it is actually using crab that still has soft shell on the practice. Then the
practice done is to fatten the crab so the shell will get hardened and they
will also reach suitable commercial sizing that people want. You might be
interested to know that the crab that has hard shell will be valued higher than
crab that still has soft shell. Their price might even reach four to five times
higher than crab that still has soft shell. The best thing is, the practice
itself can be done in shorter time while the value is higher thus you can gain
huge profit from this practice. The challenge of this practice is to get the crab
that still has soft shell which you can get from fishermen.
The practice for fattening
mud crab farming in India is still done inside pond with sizing varied
around 0.25 hectare until 0.2 hectare in size. The pond should also have great
tidal wave and the depth should be around 1 meter until 1.5 meter. Before using
the pond, some preparation needs to be done for this practice. First you will
need to drain the pond and dry it so the lime will gather and the quality will
be better. Next you need to place bamboo mat on the flooring of the pond and
build some fences on the surrounding boundaries. These practices are done so
the mud crab would not escape from inside the pond by digging their way through
the flooring or the bound.
In a year, you will be able to do around
twelve to eight cycles if you use this practice. You need to fatten the mud
crab until they reach suitable commercial sizing that people want which would
be around 300 gr until 500 gr. Furthermore as it is the fattening practice then
you should also ensure that all of your mud crab has hard shell that people
want from them.
Those are several practice that people done
on mud crab farming in India where it has
become very popular business choice of some people. If you are interested, you
might also want to do it.
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