The Tale of Crayfish-Rice Farming Mode—An Agricultural Revolution in Modern China

By Ma Yalun, Wang Benlun & Zhang Ling

In central China’s Hubei Province extends a vast lowland region called Jianghan Plain. With the lowest elevation in the country, it occupies a fertile area of 46 thousand km2. In the heart of it lies Qianjiang, a miraculous city covering an area of 2004 km2. This city has been listed as one of the first National Modern Agricultural Industrial Parks and the only one in Hubei.

The reason why we label it“miraculous” is that it is abundant in grain yields (mainly wheat and rice), edible oil production(mainly from rapeseed and cotton), natural gas, and underground salt resources.People here are hardworking and good-natured and have been constantly creating historical achievements by turning this once easily waterlogged wasteland into a hometown of crayfish, a hub of crayfish-rice production,a wetlands town embedded in clusters of gardens, and a new site of petroleum production. Among these miracles, I would like to talk about the tale of crayfish-rice farming mode.

Academician Zhang Hongcheng (second from left) and Li Xiaoping, chief agronomist of the Agricultural Bureau of Qianjiang City ( first from left) investigating crayfish-rice fields張洪程院士（前左二）和潛江市總農業師李小平（前左一）考察蝦稻田建設情況

The Crayfish-Rice Farming Mode is created by Qianjiang agricultural workers. Crayfish and rice—two unrelated species—have lived together so harmoniously in Qianjiang that it has triggered the attention of governments of each level. As the local crayfish is ending up on the dinner tables of every country, a new production mode has been fostered rapidly.This new technique is bound to become a widely-used form of biological agriculture and will certainly make tremendous contributions to the development of the agricultural industry and food safety in China.

“The mode is a typical example of Chinese modern agriculture,as well as a revolution,” said Mr.Wang Wu, a prestigious professor of Shanghai Ocean University and an expert of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Mo Dehai, the Pioneering Farmer

It was 3 pm, together with his family and the helpers, as per usual, Mo Dehai was laboring in his fields of crayfish and rice by Zhangjia Lake in Qianjiang. As we approached the field, Mo reached out his short and work-gnarled hands and shook ours. He was not so tall and had an upright and simple character. He was happy to hear us call him “Lao Mo.” (In Chinese culture, ‘lao,’ literally‘old,’ is a title of respect.)

“This is exactly our daily routine. The crayfishing goes from 2 am. And at 6 am, we send our catch to the market for sale.”

They had two meals a day and repeated this kind of work every day. Despite the hard work, Mo is always motivated. “We’ve got a lot of rice fields here, so we can only grow single-season rice.Farming in the traditional way could help us generate profits of only more than 600 yuan on one

mu (approx. 0.165 acre or 666.5 square meters) of land. However,the crayfish-rice field makes the net profit over 3000 yuan.” Saying this, Mo could not help eyes from twinkling with pleasure.

在中國中部的湖北省，綿延著中國海拔最低的江漢平原，面積4.6萬平方公里；在這塊富饒的平地中央，有一塊2004平方公里的神奇土地，她就是全國首批、全省唯一的國家現代農業產業園所在地——潛江。說它神奇，是因為這里地上盛產糧（麥、稻為主）油（油菜）棉（棉花），地下富藏油（石油）氣（天然氣）鹽（鹽鹵）。這里的人們勤勞樸實，不斷創造著新的歷史輝煌，從十年九澇的蠻荒之地，變成水鄉園林、龍蝦之鄉、蝦稻之鄉。如今，創造發明仍在繼續。我今天要講的是這里的蝦稻傳奇。

蝦（小龍蝦）、稻是潛江所創“蝦稻共作模式”的重要元素，這兩種原本互不相干的生物，在潛江卻聯系得那么緊密，共生互補。在潛江龍蝦風靡全球之際，這種新的生產方式正悄然興起，它將成為健康農業的典型發展方式，必將為中國健康農業和國民舌尖上的安全做出巨大貢獻。

這種模式受到國家高度重視和扶持，被農業部專家、上海海洋大學著名教授王武譽為中國現代農業的典型代表，是一次現代農業的革命。

莫德海試吃“螃蟹”

It’s time to fish for crayfish, Mo Dehai and his wife is taking out the crayfish caught in the tool called Dilong.眼下這片水域正值捕撈小龍蝦的季節，莫德海和妻子取出地龍中捕獲的小龍蝦

時過午后3時，潛江市總口農場張家湖分場的莫德海跟平時一樣，帶著家人和請來幫忙的工人一起，在蝦稻田里忙碌。我們來到田邊，莫德海伸出短粗有力且布滿厚厚老繭的雙手，跟我們握手。他個子不高，憨厚耿直。我叫他老莫，他很高興。

“我們每天都這樣。凌晨2點下田捕撈，6點把捕獲的蝦子送到市場銷售。蝦運走后，我們才吃早飯，睡一會兒起來，回到田里給蝦子投食。”事分兩段，一日兩頓，日復一日。老莫覺得事情很辛苦，但干得很帶勁。“我們這里水田多，一年只能種一季水稻。以前傳統方式耕作，一畝地忙下來，只能賺600多元。現在搞蝦稻共作，純利可達3000多元。”老莫禁不住的喜悅悄悄爬上眉梢。

Feeding crayfish with ground soybean把磨碎的黃豆投給蝦子

他自豪地說，自己是張家湖第一個吃螃蟹的人。7年前，場長王樂成帶著老莫等十幾個農戶到白鷺湖農場關山分場學習蝦稻共作模式。回來后，老莫下決心搏一搏，放棄傳統種植模式。他跟村民們商量租地時，大家都勸他放棄想法，但他還是堅定地與基地負責人劉軍簽下合作協議，并租下村民們手中的三百畝水田。

一年、兩年、三年……村民們看著老莫的日子越來越好過，種養技術越來越成熟，紛紛把租給老莫的田收了回去，跟著老莫一起搞起蝦稻共作來。老莫也不藏著掖著，把自己所知道的都告訴鄉親們，成了分場經驗豐富的土技術員。親戚們都到外地打工賺錢去了，老莫就把他們的地租過來打理，加起來150多畝。“我們幾個人管這么多地，夠了，多了也管不了。”我心里為老莫算了筆小賬，這活累是累，但一年的收入買臺奧迪A6卻是綽綽有余。

村民劉國云說：“蝦稻好吃，我們都喜歡吃，而且吃著放心。連我在武漢的侄子一家都要我們給他們寄蝦稻。”劉國云說，比起傳統的稻米，蝦稻口感更好，酥潤和胃。

A Russian guest tasting the rice俄羅斯客人品嘗蝦鄉稻

Mo told us proudly that he was the first farmer to experiment with new patterns of farming.Seven years ago, Wang Lecheng,the head of the farm, led more than ten farmers, including Mo, to learn the Rice-Crayfish Farming Mode on Bailu Lake Farm.When Mo came back home, he was determined to experiment on the new farming pattern by abandoning the traditional one.Villagers were not supportive to his idea, but he insisted. He rented 300 mu rice land from them and entered a contract unhesitatingly with Liu Jun, the man in charge of the project.

After several years, seeing that Mo had improved his living conditions, villagers retrieved their rented fields from Mo and followed his path. Mo never hid anything and divulged all he knew to villagers as an experienced technician of his farm. When his relatives went out as migrant workers, he rented their fields,whose total acreage could surpass 150 mu. “There are just several of us who take care of all of these fields. It’s enough. We can’t afford anymore.” With some quick math in my head, I figured out that he could definitely afford an Audi A6 car with his annual income, even if the work was toilsome.

“Rice grown in the rice-crayfish farmland is tasty and nutritious.We all like it. Even my nephew’s family, who lives in Wuhan,asks us to send it to them,” said one villager named Liu Guoyun.According to her, this kind of rice tastes better and is better for the stomach, compared with that grown in traditional ways.

The Origin of the Ecologically Produced Rice

“The Rice-Crayfish Farming Mode is ecologically safe and natural,” confirmed Mr. Li Xiaoping, chief agronomist of the Agricultural Bureau of Qianjiang.The transformation of its fields is relatively simple: 20 to 40 mu of field constitutes a unit, along its perimeter is a ditch 2 to 4 m wide and 1 to 1.5 m deep, with water inlet or outlet at each end of the field. Inside the ditch and in the field are transplanted waterweeds such as Elodea nuttallii. The prevention of pests mainly relies on physical and biological methods, with little chemical prevention. After the harvest, the straws are returned to the field. As a result, less fertilizer is utilized.

The catch season begins in late March and ends in late June, when it is hot. The rise of the water temperature drives the crayfish to inhabit the deepwater areas of the ditch. It is at this moment that farmers drain away water slowly and transplant seedlings while dropping extra young crayfish. Then, around the paddies, farmers set up two layers of net. In every mu of field,farmers place 20 15-day-old ducklings, which leads to the coexistence of rice and duck.

生態稻米的起源

“蝦稻是采用生態環保、近乎天然的生產方式種植出來的。”潛江市農業局總農藝師李小平說，蝦稻田改造相對簡單，按20畝至40畝一個單元，沿稻田開挖環形溝，溝寬3-4米，溝深1-1.5米，稻田兩端分別安裝進、排水口設施。在稻田和蝦溝內移植伊樂藻等水草。蝦稻病蟲防治以物理防控、生物防控為主，化學防控為輔，收獲后秸稈實行全量還田，肥料投入也相對減少。

每年3月下旬開始捕撈，至6月中下旬，氣候炎熱，水溫升高，小龍蝦轉入溝內深水中生活，這時緩慢排水，整田插秧并補投蝦苗，插秧完畢后，在秧田四周布上兩層護網，按每畝20只的數量投放新孵出半月左右的小鴨，鴨稻共生。

“關于水稻，老百姓最關心的是舌尖上的安全，蝦稻鴨天然解決病蟲害。”湖北蝦鄉食品股份有限公司董事長劉軍給我們講述了天然的意義。“水稻蟲害主要有三蟲。螟蟲、稻縱卷葉螟和稻飛虱，螟蟲是本地殘蟲，在稻茬兒和雜草上越冬，后兩種蟲是遷徙性害蟲，主要從南方遷入。”對于螟蟲，一是利用太陽能頻振燈誘殺，作為小龍蝦的天然餌食；二是水稻收割后留下的秸桿與稻茬全部留在田里，通過水泡腐爛，可以泡死螟蟲幼蟲如蛹，沒泡死的蟲卵也與泡爛的稻茬一起被小龍蝦吃掉。鴨子在秧株間穿梭覓食，稻縱卷葉螟和稻飛虱經常被鴨子擾動，無處藏身，或飛走或被鴨子吃掉，同時，鴨子穿梭間還會增加稻株通風透氣和通光度，鴨糞則成為稻株生長的有機肥料。

“蝦稻鴨種養模式，還有利于改善土壤性能。”潛江市國家現代農業辦公室主任陳坤補充道。“這種改變體現在幾個方面，一是蝦稻鴨共生，大大減少了農藥和化肥的使用量，蝦肥鴨肥以及投喂食物都是水稻生長的天然肥料；二是蝦子越冬，要往土壤深處打洞，有效改善耕作層深度，避免因土壤板結，有利水稻生長；三是為了達到消毒滅菌的目的，養殖戶每年都要向蝦田投放石灰。”

潛江市農業部門正聯手重點蝦稻企業，對蝦稻的品質進行技術分析，確定各種蝦稻的物理特性和各種技術參數，制定生產標準和檢測標準，確保蝦稻標準化生產。“When it comes to rice

production, food safety is a given priority for everyone. Ducks coexisting with rice plants and crayfish can reduce the risk of diseases and pests,” explained Mr. Liu Jun, president of Hubei Crayfish Land Food Co., Ltd.“Three pests, stem borers, rice worms, and rice plant hoppers,threaten the growth of rice. The former one is a local pest, living on the rice leaves and weeds and reeds; the latter two are migrating pests from the south.”Two methods are used for the killing stem borers. One is to kill them by trapping. By way of solar frequency vibrancy pest killing lamps, the pests naturally become the crayfish or ducks’food. The other method is to keep all the straws in the field. The rotten straws help decompose the remaining borers and worms in the water, and the crayfish swallow down the dying pest and the remaining rice stubbles.Furthermore, the ducks swim back and forth in the rice field and ventilate the plants so that the pests have to fly away or risk being eaten by ducks. Besides, the ducks’ movement brings more sunlight and air to the rice plants.Ducks’ droppings are also a source of organic fertilizer for the plants.

“The crayfish-rice farming pattern also improves the soil properties,” Mr. Chen Kun,director of National Modern Agricultural Bureau of Qianjiang,added. “Firstly, the co-existence means a largely reduced amount of pesticides and fertilizers;secondly, holes dug by crayfish for their hibernation can avoid soil hardening and benefit the growth of rice; thirdly, for the sake of disinfection and sterilization,farmers put lime in the field annually to ameliorate directly the acid/alkaline balance of soil.”

The Agricultural Department of Qianjiang is now in cooperation with relevant local key enterprises to conduct technical analysis on the rice quality, examine the physical characteristics of the rice, set up the technical parameters, and specify the production and check-up standards, so as to guarantee the standardized production of the crayfish rice.

Bright Future of Qianjiang’s Cray flsh-Rice Industry

Qianijang has been enjoying a high reputation as “the hometown of China’s crayfish,” “No.1 in exporting and processing crayfish in China,” and “the hometown of China’s crayfish rice.” Naturally,the crayfish-rice industry has become the pillar industry of the local agricultural economy.

Solar frequency vibrancy pest killing lamp太陽能頻振燈

In 2017, the value of the whole industry surpassed 23 billion yuan, thus becoming one of the first 11 “National Modern Agricultural Industrial Parks” and 62 “Predominant Areas of Local Agricultural Specialties,” the first in Hubei Province.

In 2010, the municipal government formed a team of innovators. After three years’diligence and devotion, the team succeeded in formulating and accomplishing the crayfish ecological farming pattern,which won the Hubei Provincial Innovation Award and produced approximately 200 kilograms of crayfish and 450 kilograms of rice per mu of field. The net return of each mu fluctuated around 5000 yuan.

In 2013, the municipal government became committed to promoting the crayfish-rice ecological farming pattern in Qianjiang by giving allowances(40 yuan/mu and 200 yuan/mu for poverty-stricken families)to farmers using this technique.In the years since 2014, newly developed bases were subsidized(40 yuan/mu). Currently, crayfishrice ecological farming fields have covered an area of 630 thousand mu.

Qian jiang, the only Demonstration City of Integrated Farming in China, has the ultimate say over national standardization in this field, since it has issued 14 standards related to the crayfish-rice cultivation,breeding, processing, and catering.Furthermore, a number of rice varieties produced through this new mode in Qianjiang have been listed as national green foods.

Qianjiang has also established an academic expert workstation in cooperation with Mr. Zhang Hongcheng, an agricultural expert,and worked closely with Hubei Academy of Agricultural Sciences on the screening and breeding of high-quality rice varieties.

At present, Qianjiang is striving to become a National Modern Agricultural Industrial Park,focusing on the establishment of a crayfish-rice farming base,four centers of big data, dealing,researching, and fine processing,as well as a financial aid platform for the crayfish-rice industry. The industrial park project involves a total investment of 1.753 billion yuan and subsidies from the central government amounting to 100 million yuan. ◆

(Translation: Zhu Jingtian)

潛江蝦稻產業前景光明

潛江已成為“中國小龍蝦之鄉”、“中國小龍蝦加工出口第一市”和“中國蝦稻之鄉”，蝦稻產業已成為當地農業經濟的特色支柱產業。2017年，潛江蝦稻全產業鏈產值突破230億元，成功入選全省唯一、全國首批11家“國家現代農業產業園”和62家“中國特色農產品優勢區”創建單位。從2010年起，潛江市委、市政府成立了創新團隊，歷時3年，創新探索出“蝦稻共作”生態種養模式，畝產小龍蝦200公斤左右，產稻450公斤左右，畝平純收入5000元左右，該項目榮獲湖北省委改革獎。

2013年，市政府大力發展蝦稻共作生態種養，對于新發展“蝦稻共作”生態種養模式的養殖戶，按照每畝40元的標準予以補貼，貧困戶每畝補貼200元。2014年，又對新發展的千畝連片基地每畝給予40元的補貼。目前，全市“蝦稻共作”面積達63萬畝，建成13個萬畝和60個千畝集中連片蝦稻共作生態種養基地，預計可生產優質蝦稻32萬噸。

潛江是中國稻田綜合種養示范市，在蝦稻種養殖、繁育、加工、餐飲技術上共有14項標準，握有中國絕對話語權。蝦鄉稻、蝦香稻、水鄉蝦稻等潛江蝦稻大米榮獲國家綠色食品及大米金獎。

潛江市已與張洪程水稻院士合作，成立了院士工作站，與省農科院緊密合作，開展蝦稻高端優質稻品種篩選繁育。

眼下，潛江正著力創建國家現代農業產業園，重點建設一個蝦稻共作現代農業生產基地，蝦稻產業大數據中心、蝦稻產業交易中心、蝦稻產業研發中心、蝦稻產品精深加工中心，一個蝦稻產業金融扶農平臺,總投資17.53億元，中央獎補資金1億元支持。◆

A corner of Qianjiang 園林水鄉潛江一角