Chinese softshell turtle standardized production technology

Author: Yang Zhencai
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-01-01
Features:
1. The Economic Value of Softshell Turtle
Softshell turtle (Trionyx sinensis) has existed since the late Paleozoic era. Over approximately 200 million years of evolution, its morphological structure has remained relatively stable, demonstrating strong adaptability to the environment. As a result, its body may contain certain special substances or structures that enhance its physiological functions. As an ancient secondary aquatic reptile, softshell turtles hold significant importance in life science research. The nutritional and tonic value of softshell turtles has been recognized by humans for over 3,000 years, and their medicinal use dates back nearly 2,000 years. With the advancement of science and technology, humans have gained a deeper understanding of the economic value of softshell turtles and their utilization has become more extensive and in-depth.
The most important economic value of softshell turtles is their edibility. Softshell turtle meat is rich in protein and contains essential amino acids and umami amino acids. More than 70% of its fat is unsaturated fatty acids, with over 25% being highly unsaturated fatty acids, including DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), which play crucial roles in human metabolism and are known as "brain gold." They can inhibit platelet aggregation, prevent thrombosis and atherosclerosis, and reduce the level of "harmful" cholesterol in the body. Softshell turtles also contain a rich supply of vitamins, particularly vitamin E, which has antioxidant properties and is important for preventing cellular aging and cancer. Compared to other animal bodies, softshell turtles have a high content of trace elements such as zinc, iron, and selenium in their rich mineral composition, which have the functions of blood-boosting and beauty-enhancing, effectively improving vitality. Therefore, softshell turtles are often regarded as a delicacy and a special food with tonic properties.
Softshell turtles have a long history of medicinal use in China. Their shells, heads, meat, blood, and bile can all be used in medicine. In traditional Chinese medicine, softshell turtle heads are used for conditions such as prolapse and hemorrhoids, while softshell turtle blood is used to treat weakened constitutions. Softshell turtle products have anti-cancer and leukopenia-preventing effects. Currently, various tonics, beverages, and capsule preparations made from softshell turtles are produced domestically. Additionally, softshell turtles are also kept as ornamental animals, enriching people's cultural lives.
2. The History of Softshell Turtle Farming Abroad
In Japan, the softshell turtle farming industry began in the mid-to-late 20th century. In the early 20th century, the industry suffered catastrophic damage due to the introduction of large numbers of Korean softshell turtles, which led to the spread of diseases. However, after World War II, the industry rapidly developed. Since the 1970s, the use of boilers, hot springs, and industrial waste heat for heating has broken the dormancy limits of softshell turtles, shortening the breeding cycle to about one-fourth of the original time and significantly improving breeding efficiency, ushering the industry into a new era of development.
Thailand's softshell turtle farming industry has developed rapidly, while countries in Southeast Asia such as South Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore also have certain-scale breeding operations. In Taiwan Province, artificial softshell turtle farming began in the 1950s, primarily in the southern regions, with an annual output of nearly 1,000 tons, comparable to Japan's production scale. In mainland China, commercial softshell turtle farming began in the late 1970s, with the 1980s being a period of accumulation. Since the 1990s, the industry has rapidly developed, with breeding output ranking first in the world. The national softshell turtle breeding output has exceeded 100,000 tons, with a total output value of about 5 billion yuan, accounting for 1% of the total aquaculture output and approximately 7% of the total freshwater aquaculture value, forming a large-scale and influential special aquaculture industry.
3. The Current State of the Softshell Turtle Industry in China
The development of artificial softshell turtle farming technology in China has gone through several stages: from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, it was primarily small-scale, ambient-temperature pond breeding. In the late 1980s, with economic development and advancements in greenhouse technology, heated breeding rapidly expanded, driving the industry from ambient-temperature extensive breeding to intensive, rapid breeding. In southern provinces, a production model dominated by fully enclosed, dark greenhouses was formed. Since the 1990s, plastic greenhouse structures have been widely promoted and applied due to their excellent lighting and heating performance, high utilization rate, and low cost, advancing temperature-controlled, rapid softshell turtle breeding to a new stage. In recent years, with technological progress, significant advancements have been made in greenhouse design, water management, and feed, and a new ecological breeding concept is gradually being implemented.
Nationwide, softshell turtle breeding in southern China holds a dominant advantage, with large-scale breeding operations, many farms exceeding 1 million individuals, and very common farms with outputs of over 100,000. In northern China, household softshell turtle farming is common, characterized by small scale and large numbers, with many farms having only tens of thousands or even thousands of individuals. Many breeders still adopt ambient-temperature extensive breeding models, and many old breeding enterprises remain behind in greenhouse structures, facility assembly, water quality management, feed processing, and feeding techniques, resulting in high disease rates, high breeding costs, poor product quality, and low breeding technology levels, making it difficult to compete in the market. Research on softshell turtle germplasm has been limited, and due to large-scale, widespread "backcrossing" over the past decade, the softshell turtles bred nationwide are highly mixed. Currently, only comparative studies on softshell turtles in some domestic water systems have been conducted, revealing significant differences. Northern softshell turtles without spots have excellent germplasm but have not yet been bred for high-quality softshell turtle breeding. Efforts should be strengthened in variety selection and promotion.
4. The Development Trends of the Softshell Turtle Industry
With further adjustments in China's agricultural industrial structure and changes in consumer concepts, the production of high-quality products has become the main development direction. The quality of seedlings not only affects the growth speed and disease resistance of softshell turtles but also impacts their quality and market prices. Softshell turtles are widely distributed in China, with significant individual differences in different regions. The conditions for breeding high-quality varieties are already in place in terms of resources, technology, and the market, making it one of the key directions in the near future.
With the improvement of people's living standards, the demand for softshell turtles in China has also increased. Currently, the market price of softshell turtles is very low, making them affordable for many families. Combined with the in-depth development of pollution-free production and scientific, positive publicity of the nutritional value of softshell turtle products, the potential consumer market for softshell turtles will expand, and the demand for consumer services will become stronger. The processing industry of softshell turtles will inevitably become an important development direction of the industry.
Competition in the softshell turtle farming industry will be a technological competition. Reducing breeding costs and improving product quality are its long-term development goals. Breeding enterprises must continuously improve breeding and management levels, adopt advanced breeding models, strengthen disease prevention, use high-quality and efficient compound feed, and improve the growth speed of softshell turtles while reducing various costs per unit output. Due to the lack of brand protection, investment in the development of the softshell turtle consumer market has been limited. The sale of softshell turtles suffers from serious issues of substituting inferior products for high-quality ones, greatly affecting the market for high-quality softshell turtles. Linked to the production of pollution-free, high-quality softshell turtle products, it is necessary to establish regional or economic organization brands. Brand building and competition in the softshell turtle industry will be another feature of future market development.
In 2001, China joined the World Trade Organization, and many industries faced significant challenges. However, the softshell turtle industry has a relatively small gap with foreign countries and maintains certain advantages and characteristics. For example, China is the original homeland of softshell turtles, with rich germplasm resources; abundant labor resources, large breeding scale, and low breeding costs. Due to tariff reductions and gradual elimination, as well as decreases in agricultural product prices, the feed ingredients for softshell turtles will gradually decrease, market demand will gradually increase, exports of high-quality softshell turtles will gradually grow, and domestic softshell turtle breeding will become more standardized.
In summary, the softshell turtle industry faces excellent development opportunities. By seriously addressing the main issues in the industry, such as technology, quality, and market development, the softshell turtle industry will undoubtedly enter a new and prosperous stage of development.
5. The Significance of Standardized Production of Softshell Turtles
China is a country with a large population and relatively underdeveloped economy. For many years, governments at all levels have actively organized efforts to improve agricultural and animal production to ensure the supply of agricultural and animal products. With the improvement of people's material and cultural standards, dietary quality has been further emphasized. In the past decade, significant progress has been made in the adjustment of agricultural and animal industrial structures, with special attention to characteristic agricultural and animal industries. China's aquaculture production has achieved remarkable achievements. Compared to 1978, aquaculture output has increased 16-fold, greatly enriching people's material lives.
However, while emphasizing agricultural and animal product output and industrial structure, we relatively neglected the quality of livestock, poultry, and aquatic products (such as the use of illegal drugs, hormones, and excessive additives), resulting in declining product quality, no guarantee of food safety, deteriorating ecological environments, and direct or indirect harm to people's health and living environment. This major industrial issue has attracted the attention of governments at all levels in China, and the state has issued relevant policies and regulations to regulate and constrain producers' behavior.
The softshell turtle industry also faces these issues and has become a significant problem affecting its long-term development. The Ministry of Agriculture issued industry standards for pollution-free food production and breeding technology of softshell turtles last year, as well as industry standards for softshell turtle compound feed. As a member of the World Trade Organization, China must strictly adhere to the product standards issued by the organization in organizing production. Like other industries, the softshell turtle industry must comply with national regulations and carry out standardized production according to the product standards issued by the WTO.
To effectively implement national policies and regulations and promote the development of China's softshell turtle industry in the direction of pollution-free, sustainable, high-quality, and high-efficiency, we were invited by China Agricultural University Press to write this book, "Standardized Production Technology of Softshell Turtles." This book is based on the scientific, realistic, and developmental spirit of softshell turtle ecological breeding technology and feed research, as well as the achievements of implementing national and Hebei Province key scientific and technological achievement promotion plans over the past three years. It basically reflects the scientific research and practical achievements in the softshell turtle industry in recent years.
The book is based on the biology of softshell turtles, focusing on breeding models, production management, feed production, and disease prevention, while also covering germplasm, harvesting, transportation, product quality, and processing. It comprehensively explores the technical issues in the industry's development and proposes effective solutions, reflecting the current status and technical level of the contemporary softshell turtle industry. The book strives to embody the concept of pollution-free and ecological breeding, highlighting "treating softshell turtles as the priority" and "treating people as the priority." It organically combines theory, technology, and practice, making it easy to understand and apply modern breeding techniques flexibly, scientifically, and creatively. The book can serve as a self-study or training textbook for those in the breeding industry and can also be referenced by leaders of industry administrative departments and researchers.
We hope readers can gain comprehensive technical, industrial knowledge, and information, aiming to improve China's softshell turtle industry's technical level and fundamentally solve issues such as food safety and efficient ecological breeding in the industry.
This book was co-authored by Li Shuang'an, Gao Ming, Rong Wei, and Xiao Haixia (Chapters 1 and 7) from the College of Animal Science, Hebei Agricultural University; An Ruiyong (Chapters 5, 8, and 9) from the College of Life Sciences, Hebei Normal University; Hao Yujiang (Chapters 2 and 4) from Hebei Agricultural University; Gao Yongli (Chapter 3) from Hebei Agricultural University; and Yang Zhencai (Preface and Chapter 6). It was edited by Yang Zhencai and Li Shuang'an.
Due to the urgency of the book's compilation, research on softshell turtles is relatively limited, and many issues remain unresolved. Especially with our limited expertise and experience, there are undoubtedly many errors or shortcomings in the book. We sincerely welcome experts, technicians, and readers to provide corrections and suggestions.