A man in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, has created wealth for himself by farming Pacific white shrimps.
Yang Xinli, a shrimp farmer in Jianfuqiao village, Zhangzheng township, Xingqing district of Yinchuan, began to engage in the aquaculture industry in 1993. After receiving disappointing earnings raising freshwater fish, Yang began farming Pacific white shrimps in 2013. "After years of efforts, I have made a healthy profit on these shrimps," Yang said happily.
Yang's career has not all been smooth sailing. At first, he released his shrimp seedlings into ponds and followed traditional freshwater aquaculture methods. Consequently, all of his shrimp seedlings were found dead, to which he later learned that farming marine shrimps in freshwater was the reason behind his failure.
To produce Pacific white shrimps in "freshwater," Yang went to coastal cities in Hainan, Zhejiang and Fujian provinces to learn shrimp culture techniques from skilled shrimp farmers for three consecutive years.
"The most suitable temperature range for the growth of Pacific white shrimps is between 25 to 28 degrees Celsius. The pH value of waters should be kept between 8.0 to 8.6, while the content of dissolved oxygen, ammonia nitrogen and nitrite in waters should be kept in an appropriate range. As long as these conditions are met, the survival rates of Pacific white shrimp seedlings will significantly improve," Yang introduced.
To create water bodies suitable for Pacific white shrimps, he has made hundreds of attempts, gradually mastering the culture techniques of Pacific white shrimps in these water bodies.
Introducing that his Pacific white shrimps have been well received by customers, Yang shared "The prices range between 70 yuan (about $10.39) and 90 yuan per kilogram."
"This year, I have 80 mu (about 5.3 hectares) of aquaculture sites for shrimps, with an estimated output of about 200 to 250 kilograms per mu. It's a good harvest," Yang said, adding that he hopes to help more and more villagers cultivate Pacific white shrimps and live a better life in the future.