TIGER
PRAWNS ANYONE?
With all he emphasis on reviving our robust economic growth, it's no wonder that
this releases the tiger in us - specially tiger prawn farming.
During our trip to Mukah, we visited
a tiger prawn farm owned by Mr Lim who has had 18 years of experience in this
aquaculture business. His farm consist of 10 acres of land on a 5 year lease
from the government and which he has to fully develop within a 2-year period.
According to Mr Lim, tiger prawn farming is good as a small scale family operation
and successful harvest will yield fast returns.
Sea water is a necessity for the
rearing of tiger prawns and this is channelled into ponds. The pond water is
then kept relatively clean by treating it with natural limestone powder, constant
water churning and removal of accumulated bubbles from the churning. A harvest
pond will require 2 months in order to dry, remove the organic matter, waste
disposal and to sterilise before another batch of prawn fries are put in.
The farm has its own prawn hatcheries.
It takes 1 month from of the mother prawn to the eggs to the hatchlings to the
larva before the prawn fries are ready to be placed into the prepared pond.
At the larva stage, it is crucial to maintain temperatures of between 29-30
degree celcius and keep them from outside contamination.
Once the prawn fries are released
into the pond, they need to be fed 5 times a day with the appropriate dry feed
or pellets. The workers also need to ensure that predators like birds do not
prey on the prawns as they grow. Currently, Mr Lim has about 16-20 workers in
his operation. He provides them with workers' quarters, basic salaries and attractive
incentives to encourage good working attitudes and initiatives.
Harvesting of each crop of tiger
prawns occurs once every 4 months or 120 days. Every production cycle based
on 1 acre of land produces 3-4 tons of prawns. The market price for tiger prawns
presently is RM 40-43 per kg. The pricing depends on the size and weight of
the of the tiger prawn, that is, the bigger and heavier the prawn, the better
price it shall fetch. The tiger prawns market caters more for overseas export
than local consumption due to its high cost.
What are the dollar signs involved
in such a farm as Mr Lim's? It involves an investment of RM 40,000 per pond
of 1 acre inclusive of building the pond, purchasing machinery and miscellaneous
like utilities, workers' pay, etc. he expenditure incurred for a production
cycle of 3 tons of prawns is RM36,000 but the profit attainable here is RM90,000
(RM30,000 per ton). Ultimately that means a net profit of RM14,000 per acre
every 6-7 months of successful tiger prawn farming. Mr Lim has also indicated
that he is willing to impart his skills and knowledge in assisting those who
are interested in going into this line of aquaculture even on a small scale
basis as an effort to help improve the state's export revenues. Tiger prawns,
anyone?
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