60-year-old man "lives with crickets", earns 15 million VND/month

Knowing about crickets by chance, Mr. Pham Ngoc Bich, over 60 years old in hamlet 8A, Thanh Mai commune (Thanh Chuong - Nghe An) has spent a lot of time and passion on this insect.

He is a person who reads newspapers a lot and likes to learn about agricultural models to get rich. In early 2016, he saw a cricket farming model on TV with low investment capital but still brought high profits. Realizing that this was an attractive model and suitable for the family economy, he carefully researched cricket farming on social networking sites to learn farming techniques.

Mr. Pham Ngoc Bich moved in with the crickets to take care of them more conveniently. Photo: Diep Phuong

He took a bus to Hanoi to find the "source" addresses for raising crickets. Initially, Mr. Bich bought 2 trays of eggs for 300,000 VND for experimental breeding. "At that time, because I was still unfamiliar and did not understand the characteristics of crickets, the housing specifications, breeding techniques, especially the time of hatching eggs and laying babies, I made cages that did not meet the requirements, leading to difficulty in raising the tiny newly hatched crickets" - Mr. Bich recalled.

At that time, 2 trays of cricket eggs brought back for incubation were lost. Undaunted, Mr. Bich continued to buy 3 more trays for incubation. This time, he knew how to make a cricket cage out of a styrofoam box, which was both suitable for nesting and sealed so that newly hatched crickets would not escape.

Cricket egg trays are in the process of hatching. Photo: Diep Phuong

The joy was multiplied when he saw that the crickets were not lost and started to grow. He started to order more Styrofoam boxes and take more cricket eggs to incubate. During this time, wanting to understand and take care of the crickets to grow in the best way, Mr. Bich decided to move out to live with the crickets.

After more than 3 months of hard work and research, his cricket farm has started to generate income. Sharing his experience in raising crickets, Mr. Bich said: “A batch of crickets usually has a 45-day rearing cycle. First, the cricket egg trays will be incubated in a styrofoam box, paying attention to always keep the temperature above 30 degrees Celsius, about 7 days in the summer and about 12 days in the winter, the eggs will hatch into chicks. Then, take the egg trays out and add straw to the styrofoam box to create a shelter for the newly hatched crickets. When the crickets are about 15 days old, they are transferred to a cardboard or wooden box until they are sold.”

There are many types of crickets, but he chose to raise crickets because they are easy to raise, rarely get sick, and grow well. As the crickets grow older, they need more food; the cricket cage must be cleaned at least once a week.

Currently, on average, he sells 5kg of cricket meat per day at a price of 200,000 VND/kg to supply restaurants and pubs in the area and is packaged and sent to consume in major cities such as Vinh, Hanoi, Saigon, etc. On average, his family earns 15 million VND per month.

Crickets' main food is grass, vegetables, leaves, and fruits in the home garden. Depending on their age, more or less food is given at the bottom of the cage, and water is sprayed around the cage every day for the crickets to drink. Photo: Diep Phuong

“Crickets are also a lucrative food for chameleons, so in the near future I will raise more chameleons. Not only will I fully exploit the benefits of crickets, but I will also earn extra income from selling chameleons to traders at high prices, ranging from 70,000 to 100,000 VND/1 gecko,” Mr. Bich shared about his business plan.