On the 2-crop culture of penaeid shrimps

Although much progress has been made in the last few years on the hatchery rearing of penaeid shrimps, the use of artificial feeds and the innovation of culture techniques, the key problem in the shrimp culture industry is still to increase yield per unit culture area for greater economic returns. In finding an answer to this problem, experiments on the cultivation of two (instead of one) species with different biological requirements were carried out in different seasons,Penaeus orientalis Kishinouye in spring andP. penicillatus Alcock in summer in Fujian as it has a longer culture season. Years of study and practical experience in large-scale rearing of shrimps show that successive 2-crop culture of penaeid shrimps is feasible and more economical as no additional investment in terms of maintenance facilities and management is needed. The pond is fully used the whole year. The renovation of techniques and the timing of the culture of the two species led to the development of a 2-crop culture method which roughly doubled the yield per unit area of cultivation. The early season species is harvested at the prime of its development and the culture of the late season species begin just after the harvest of the early season species.