Monday, February 21, 2011

Bangladesh farmers fatten crabs on polluted land

They are pale, small and have very sharp claws but the tiny crabs found in local bazaars in Bangladesh are in big demand. In fact farmers cannot seem to get enough of them. In the south-west of the country, where swathes of farmland are submerged in salty water, many people have taken up crab farming after struggling to grow rice.

The financial returns are so good that some farmers are contemplating carrying on with crab-farming even if their land becomes suitable for growing rice and other crops one day. Fattening crabs is becoming the profession of choice for unemployed farmers such as Mujib. He switched to crab-farming after his land was flooded by a tidal surge which followed Cyclone Aila in May 2009.

"We had to move to temporary shelters on the road because water came into our home," says Mujib, who like many local people uses only one name. Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little The Aquaculturists, published and supported by the International Aquafeed Magazine from Perendale Publishers.
Enhanced by Zemanta

1 comment:

  1. Would anyone knowing the species of the crab mentioned in the above article from Bangladesh please post it if possible, thanks

    ReplyDelete