-
Integrated rice-animal farming (IRF) models were mainly distributed in the Yangtze River Basin in China. The areas of IRF in Anhui, Guizhou, Hubei, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Sichuan provinces were 5.1 × 104, 1.16 × 105, 1.63 × 105, 1.64 × 105, 6.6 × 104, and 3.14 × 105 ha, respectively. With the encouragement and support from national policies and market stimulus, the IRF industry in the last decade has developed rapidly. Sichuan province still maintains a high level of development with an IRF area of 3.13 × 105 ha in 2019, the IRF in Hubei province has increased annually since 2010 to 2019, and its extension area reached 4.6 × 105 ha in 2019, which continuously surpass Sichuan and other provinces since 2017, while the other provinces had the corresponding increase in 2019, with IRF areas of 2.72 × 105, 1.79 × 105, 1.92 × 105, and 1.01 × 105 ha in Anhui, Guizhou, Jiangsu, and Jiangxi provinces, respectively (Fig. 1).
Figure 1.
Development tendency of IRF in eight provinces over the past 10 years (data from the China Fishery Statistical Yearbook (2011−2020)).
In addition, rice planting area constrains the development of IRF, the proportion of IRF area to total rice planting area in 2019 was 20.11%, 8.80%, 10.84%, 3.02%, 20.11%, 8.12%, 16.73%, 26.98%, and 11.57% in Hubei, Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan, respectively, the IRF area in Hubei province was only slightly lower than that in Guizhou province and much higher than those in other provinces in China (Table 1).
Table 1. IRF area/rice planting area in eight provinces in 2019.
Province Rice planting area (ha) IRF area (ha) Proportion of IRF area to
rice planting area (%)Jiangsu 2.18 × 106 1.92 × 105 8.80 Anhui 2.51 × 106 2.72 × 105 10.84 Jiangxi 3.35 × 106 1.01 × 105 3.02 Hubei 2.29 × 106 4.60 × 105 20.11 Hunan 3.86 × 106 3.13 × 105 8.12 Sichuan 1.87 × 106 3.13 × 105 16.73 Guizhou 6.65 × 105 1.79 × 105 26.98 Yunnan 8.42 × 105 9.74 × 104 11.57 The development of rice cultivation and RCF in Hubei province
-
In the past decade, the total rice planting area in Hubei province has witnessed a relatively significant growth. The most obvious growth is from 2.09 million ha in 2012 to 2.38 million ha in 2015, increasing the rice planting area by about 3.0 × 105 ha. From 2015 to 2018, the rice planting area changed relatively smoothly, basically maintaining between 2.36−2.39 million ha, whereas the rice planting area decreased by about 1.0 × 105 ha to 2.28 million ha in Hubei province from 2018 to 2020. In general, the rice planting area in Hubei province increased by about 2.0 × 105 ha from 2010 to 2020 (Fig. 2).
Figure 2.
Change trend of rice planting area in Hubei province over the past 10 years (data from the Hubei Statistical Yearbook (2011-2020)).
Crayfish production in 2011 was 2.3 × 105 t, which increased 4× by 2020. During this period, aquatic production of IRF in Hubei also showed a sharply increasing trend, from 1.3 × 105 t in 2011 to 8.6 × 105 t in 2020 (Fig. 3). The crayfish production and aquatic production of IRF from 2011 to 2020 increased by 7.5 × 105 and 7.3 × 105 t, respectively. The growth value of crayfish production is similar to that of IRF, which indicated that the development of RCF model had dominated in the past 10 years in Hubei province, and the crayfish production increase from RCF contributed more than 100% to the increase of total aquatic production in IRF.
Figure 3.
Relationship between total crayfish production and aquatic production of IRF in Hubei province over the past 10 years (data from the Hubei Rural Statistical Yearbook and the China Fishery Statistical Yearbook (2011-2020)).
Changes in the rice cultivation industry in Hainan province in past 10 years
-
The total crop planting area of Hainan province showed a decreasing trend from 2010 to 2020, with the total crop planting area in Hainan province decreasing from 7.8 × 105 ha in 2010 to 6.9 × 105 ha in 2020, with a decline of approximately 11.6%. The rice planting area is also annually decreasing in the same period, with 2.3 × 105 ha of the rice planting area in 2020, which has decreased by 28.03% compared to 2010 (Fig. 4).
Figure 4.
Change trend of rice planting area in Hainan province over the past 10 years (data from the Hainan Statistical Yearbook (2011-2020)).
Field trials analysis of RCF in Hainan
Grain yield
-
The rice yields of rice monoculture (RM) and RCF (including or excluding culture ditch) in the early-season are 7.74, 6.83 and 5.51 t·ha−1. The rice yields of RCF (excluding culture ditch) and RCF (including culture ditches) are 11.76% and 28.81% lower than that of RM with significant difference, respectively. The rice yields of RM and RCF’s field (including or excluding culture ditch) in the late-season are 3.45, 4.01 and 3.24 t·ha−1, the rice yield of RCF’s field (excluding culture ditch) is 16.30% higher than that of RM with a significant difference, the rice yield of RCF’s field (including culture ditch) is 6.07% lower than that of RM with no significant difference (Table 2).
Table 2. Comparison of grain yield in field trials.
Seasons Grain yield (t·ha−1) RM RCF (excluding culture ditch) RCF (including culture ditch) Early-season 7.74 a 6.83 b 5.51 b Late-season 3.45 b 4.01 a 3.24 b Within a row for each season, means followed by the different letters are significantly different from each other, while the means followed by the same letter are not, according to LSD (0.05). Nitrogen partial factor productivity
-
Compared with RM, N fertilizer application is reduced by one-third in RCF in both the early- and late-season. The nitrogen partial factor productivity (NPFP) of RM and RCF (including or excluding culture ditch) in the early-season are 64.47, 85.32 and 68.92 kg·kg−1, respectively, the NPFP of RCF (excluding culture ditch) is significantly higher than that of RM, the NPFP of RCF (including or excluding culture ditch) increased by 6.90% and 32.34%, respectively, compared with that of RM. The NPFP of RM and RCF’s field (including or excluding culture ditch) in the late-season are 28.74, 40.49, 50.13 kg·kg−1, The NPFP of RCF's field (including or excluding culture ditch) in the late-season increased by 40.88% and 74.43%, respectively, compared with that of RM (Table 3).
Table 3. Comparison of NPFP in field trials.
Seasons NPFP (kg·kg−1) RM RCF (excluding culture ditch) RCF (including culture ditch) Early-season 64.47 b 85.32 a 68.92 b Late-season 28.74 c 50.13 a 40.49 b Within a row for each season, means followed by the different letters are significantly different from each other, while the means followed by the same letter are not, according to LSD (0.05). Economic benefits
-
The economic income generated by RM and RCF in the early-season is 23208.42 and 91539.73 CNY·ha−1, respectively, and the economic income of RCF was about four times higher than that of traditional RM. The economic income generated by RM and RCF’s field in the late-season is 10,345.68 and 9,718.02 CNY·ha−1, respectively, and the return generated by rice planting in RCF’s field in the late-season reduced by 6.07% compared to RM (Table 4). Overall, the RCF-RM model increased the annual economic return three times more than the RM-RM model, with higher returns obtained from crayfish farming.
Table 4. Economic benefit analysis of field trials.
Seasons Economic benefits (CNY·ha−1) RM RCF (including
culture ditch)Early-season 23,208.42 b 91,539.73 a Late-season 10,345.68 b 9,718.02 b Within a row for each season, means followed by the different letters are significantly different from each other, while the means followed by the same letter are not, according to LSD (0.05). Note: rice price was 3 CNY·kg−1, crayfish price was 50 CNY·kg−1. -
Hainan province has huge potential for the development of rice-crayfish farming (RCF), but due to differences in climatic conditions, there are still many specific details to be optimized in order to develop RCF, such as changes in temperature that may lead to differences in fertility cycles of crayfish, and changes in the regulation of feed requirements, thus more experiments are needed to improve the operational protocols of rice-crayfish farming applicable to tropical regions.
Reasonable planning of land to create an RCF industry cluster
-
To ensure the stability and growth of rice production, the RCF model needs to be promoted and developed in large areas of farmland, thus it is essential to rational plan the land for RCF. In addition, RCF is a 'one-stop' production model, which requires massive land costs for seedling, breeding, fishing, subsequent transportation, and processing. Meanwhile, the government needs to vigorously promote the development of small and medium-sized agricultural cooperatives and the formation of large RCF enterprises while deriving more RCF-related industries and forming RCF-focused clusters, which can preferably improve the capacity and efficiency of RCF and promote the development of the core economy of crayfish.
Strengthen the standardized management to promote the establishment of rice and crayfish brands
-
With the improvement of social and cultural levels, people are increasingly concerned about a healthy diet and lifestyle. However, green, ecological, healthy, and efficient development is the core intention of the RCF model. We need to strengthen the standardized management of the RCF model, to avoid the use of high-risk, high-residue pesticides, and heavy metal hazards to achieve this purpose. Meanwhile, we need to promote the formation of rice and crayfish brand effect in line with the characteristics of Hainan to increase the total economic output value.
-
About this article
Cite this article
Li Y, Wu T, Ku X, Wang S, Pan G, et al. 2023. Feasibility analysis of rice-crayfish farming in Hainan province based on its development trend in Hubei province over the past 10 years. Tropical Plants 2:4 doi: 10.48130/TP-2023-0004
Feasibility analysis of rice-crayfish farming in Hainan province based on its development trend in Hubei province over the past 10 years
- Received: 10 January 2023
- Accepted: 14 March 2023
- Published online: 31 March 2023
Abstract: In the face of the current popular crayfish food culture, as well as the strong development trend of rice-crayfish farming (RCF), how to exploit their unique advantages to develop the RCF model is a direction of agricultural development in Hainan province that deserves attention. In this paper, we systematically analyze the feasibility of developing RCF in Hainan province by investigating the changes in RCF development in Hubei province in recent years, combined with the current state of rice production and RCF trial data in Hainan province. The results show that: 1) Using abandoned land to develop RCF contributes to the total rice production of Hainan province. The rice yield of RCF in the late-season is 16.30% higher than that of rice monoculture (RM), but the rice yield of RCF is severely affected by the proportion of culture ditch. 2) Compared to RM, the RCF model can reduce the application of N fertilizer to a certain extent. The nitrogen partial factor productivity (NPFP) in the early- and late-season of RCF are 32.34% and 74.43% higher than those of the RM, respectively. 3) In Hubei, the RCF model has promoted the expansion of rice cultivation area. Therefore, introducing the RCF model in Hainan can help increase the area of the rice cultivation and land utilization while reducing the abandonment of arable land. 4) Drawing on the RCF model in Hubei, Hainan would expect to gain remarkable economic benefits, since anti-seasonal RCF has huge market prospects.