Prospects from cricket farming

Unusual yet familiar, unique yet effective. With just a small space and minimal investment, many farmers in Phu Tho have succeeded in transforming the hobby of raising crickets – a common and familiar insect in rural areas – into a potential agricultural model that provides a stable income, helping them escape poverty and become wealthy.

Crickets are a nutritious food source with a wide consumer market, low investment costs, and simple care techniques, making them suitable for small-scale farming practices in rural areas.

Crickets adapt well to their environment, and the temperature for raising them can reach 40-50 degrees Celsius. Therefore, the breeding area is usually designed simply with a metal frame enclosed by mesh or nylon, ensuring a cool, airy space, and protection from rain, sun, and other direct impacts.

To encourage crickets to lay many eggs during the breeding season, male and female crickets are often kept together in the same enclosure; moist sawdust trays are used for the crickets to build nests when laying eggs. The hatching process takes from 7 to 14 days.

Humidity plays a crucial role in cricket farming. Therefore, daily watering of the breeding cages is essential to ensure the crickets' growth and molting process proceeds smoothly through each stage.

Crickets are typically raised in egg trays. These trays provide warmth, maintain good humidity, and are inexpensive. After use, the trays are recycled or combined with waste and leftover cricket food to make fertilizer.

Crickets are not picky eaters and can utilize various plants in agriculture. However, their food must be clean, free from spoilage, mold, and mildew to avoid disease.

For crickets intended as animal feed, they only need to be raised for 28 to 30 days before being sold. For commercial crickets, it takes about 40 days to harvest. Depending on their age, the market price of crickets ranges from 100,000 to 200,000 VND per kilogram.

The family of Ms. Nguyen Thi Ninh (wearing a white shirt) in Zone 5, Phong Chau town, Phu Ninh district currently has 9 cricket breeding cages; each cage is expected to yield 15 to 20 kg of finished crickets.

Crickets are a popular and unique folk dish enjoyed by diners. Crickets can be prepared into many attractive dishes such as: roasted crickets, crickets fried in butter, crickets fried in fish sauce, crickets stir-fried with lemongrass and chili...

Bich Ngoc

Source: https://baophutho.vn/trien-vong-tu-nuoi-de-220926.htm