The first farmer in Anh Son raises specialty insects for high profits

3 years ago, knowing about the specialty dish made from wild insects - crickets, Mr. Le Dinh Manh decided to invest 4 million VND to buy 2 trays of cricket eggs to try raising.

After 7 days of raising, the eggs hatched into two boxes of baby crickets. He used all the styrofoam boxes, cardboard boxes, and pots in the house to make cages for the crickets.

With the success of the experimental cricket farming model, Mr. Le Dinh Manh has now expanded the cricket farming scale to an area of ​​30 m2.2; each year sells 8-9 batches of meat crickets. Photo: Thai Hien

At first, Mr. Manh encountered many difficulties because of his lack of experience in raising this natural insect. There was no cricket farming model in the area, so he had to learn how to care for and raise crickets on the internet.

At each stage of cricket growth, Mr. Manh learns and accumulates experience to apply appropriate care techniques.

Mr. Manh shared: After a period of experimental breeding, I realized that crickets are an easy-to-raise insect, increase quickly, and have little loss. The food source for raising crickets is easy to find, mainly from ground corn bran and vegetables and grass. The growth period of crickets is very short, from hatching to adulthood, it only takes 40 days to be able to sell. Cricket meat is best when it is 40 - 50 days old.

The waste from this insect is insignificant, does not cause bad odors, so it does not affect the surrounding environment.

Crickets are a popular specialty with a high price of 250,000 VND/kg. Photo: Thai Hien

According to Mr. Manh's experience, crickets are gregarious animals that adapt to the natural environment. Therefore, if you want the crickets to grow quickly, have high productivity and quality, and avoid diseases, the breeder must pay attention to placing the cricket cage in a high, airy, clean place, away from wind and rain.

Crickets are quite sensitive to the weather. When it is too hot or too cold, they will grow slowly and lay fewer eggs. In particular, each cage should be arranged with branches, dry leaves, cardboard boxes or waste bins to create a wild environment for crickets to hide or fly naturally.

Having succeeded in the experimental cricket farming model, Mr. Manh learned how to breed crickets himself. The crickets used for breeding are raised for 60 days, then lay eggs, which hatch after 7 days and become the source of seeds for the next generation.

Crickets have a short growth period (40 days). For each batch, his family sells 60kg of meat crickets. Photo: Thai Hien

Currently, Mr. Manh has expanded the cricket farming scale to an area of ​​30 m2.², with 12 boxes of crickets. Every year, Mr. Manh's family raises 8-9 batches of crickets. Each batch, his family sells 60kg of meat crickets, at 250,000 VND/kg. On average, he earns over 10 million VND per batch of crickets. The investment cost for building cages and feeding the crickets is not much, so in total, each year, Mr. Manh's family earns about 70-80 million VND from raising this specialty insect.

Mr. Le Dinh Manh's family developed the first cricket farming model in Anh Son district, so the supply of meat crickets is always insufficient to meet demand. Mr. Manh plans to continue expanding the scale of raising this specialty insect to meet the great demand of many restaurants and customers in the area./.