Soft Shell Mud Crab Production System for Farming

You might be wondering how the soft shell mud crab production is done since the mud crab farming has become a popular business that a lot of people do. Actually this business has been done by a lot of people for quite a while especially on Africa and Asia region. The mud crab itself actually has high demand especially internationally where people willing to purchase the crab in high price. In fact there are several countries that are known to import the mud crab regularly every year. That is why; when you do the production yourself, then you will be able to get earning in foreign currency which surely has higher value than the local one.

How to Do Soft Shell Mud Crab Production

The soft shell mud crab production itself will only need small cost for the labor as well as the production process. Furthermore the mud crab is actually grown faster on the farm thus you will be able to earn back your investment in short time when you do the production. This might be there reason why this type of production is very popular especially for those people who live in the coastal area. And if you are able to do the production management correctly, then you might even get higher earnings compared to the shrimp production. Furthermore, you do not even need to do the production in large scale. Thus you can start the production with low investment at first.

The soft shell mud crab production is actually done on two kinds of mud crab which both still inside the Scylla genus. In this genus there are two species that people often used on the production for commercial usage. The first species is green crab and the second is red claw which both has some difference that you need to learn further. On the first species, the sizing itself is larger which will usually reach carapace width of 22 centimeters while their weight will usually reach 2 kilograms. Then on the second species, the sizing itself is smaller which will usually reach carapace width of 12.7 centimeters while their weight will usually reach 1.2 kilograms.

Both of those mud crab species are suitable for the production since both of them is valued high in the market. There are also high demand for those mud crab species in the market, thus it would be easier for you to sell your harvest later on. On the soft shell mud crab production the mud crab that has soft shell will be nurtured using two systems. The first one is the growing system and the second one is the fattening system. Now let us see each of those production details below.

For the growing system, the production will be using soft shell mud crab that is still young. The young crab will then be nurture so it will become bigger and hopefully their shell also turn harder by the time they are sell to the market. Since this production system is using young crab that has small size, and then it will usually take around five until six month time until the young crab becomes big. Once they reach the suitable commercial sizing, then you can harvest them. Usually the crab will have hard shell once they grow, but for those who recently molt then their shell might still be soft.

The growing soft shell mud crab production system can be done inside pond with various sizing according to the investment that you willing to give. But normally the sizing used on the production is usually half ha or at two ha. The pond should also have good water flow exchange and the bund should be strong. If you only do small scale production, then it will be easier for you to maintain the production. Furthermore, you can install fence around the pond to make it strong. But if you do large scale production then natural bund is also good option, but remember to strengthen the bund on later time using fence since they will depleted over time.

For the fattening system, the production will be using soft shell crab that is already quite big. The crab will then be nurture so their shell will turn harder before being sold to the market. You should know that if the mud crab has hard shell, then the price will actually be higher than the mud crab that has soft shell. Their price might even reach four until five times higher than the other one. Furthermore, the production itself will take less time compared to the previous one. In fact, within a year of production, you might even do eight until twelve cycle of productions. Thus if you do this production system, then you will be able to earn back your investment faster and there would be higher profit that you will get.

The fattening soft shell mud crab production system is still done inside pond but the size itself is usually smaller. The normal sizing used on this production system is usually at 0.25 ha to the 0.2 ha sizing and the depth would be at 1 meter to the 1.5 meter sizing. The pond is usually created in area with great tidal wave, but when creating the pond, then the first thing that you need to do is to drain the pond. This is done so the lime can gather around and the quality will also become better. Furthermore, you would then be able to lie down the bamboo mat which used as the pond flooring. For the bund, it would be better for you to use fence as it will be stronger thus it will be able to prevent the crab from going away by digging the bund.

Those are several methods that can be done to raise the soft shell mud crab production so it will become bigger in size while the other one is done so their shell will turn harder. If you are interested in doing any of the method, then you can choose one that you are interested at.