Breeding carp is one of the most interesting areas in the field of own small business. This is due to the fact that almost any body of water is suitable for such a matter, since there is everything necessary for the life of fish. All that remains to be done is to feed and catch carp, and also make sure that the pond is not polluted. Let's look at carp farming as a business and appreciate all its advantages and disadvantages.
Fish breeding pond
The first thing you need to worry about is creating a suitable place. So, the best option would be a pool or a small pond. The main requirement here is good tightness so that the water does not go into the ground. This is very easy to achieve by using a simple plastic film or something similar.
You also need to worry in advance about creating a fairly spacious lake. The fact is that, most likely, you will progress quite quickly and successfully, and the question will arise about expansion, so it is always easier to take care of this in advance.
But this is far from all, since our reservoir must be officially stocked. Thus, we will make our business legal and very profitable. In most cases, it pays off in the first season. It is necessary to obtain a biological justification of the characteristics of water, but more on that later.
Growing carp: a business plan
Even in such a simple lesson, a well-designed business plan will be required. This document will take into account all the nuances of the market. For example, whether there will be demand for carp in your region, how competitors work, etc. It is recommended that you contact specialists for its preparation, but you can do this yourself, although in this case mistakes cannot be avoided. But, as they say, they learn from mistakes.
Now let's see what an example business plan will look like:
- obtaining the necessary package of documents;
- market analysis;
- rent or create your own reservoir;
- purchase of feed;
- profit and cost calculation.
It is worth noting that the cultivation of carps is a business that practically does not require investment. At the first stage, you can completely do it yourself, and then purchase equipment for cage fish farming, etc. Let's look at each item in the business plan in more detail.
We get the necessary permissions
As mentioned above, you need to get a bunch of all kinds of documents that will allow you to breed fish in your own or rented pond. First of all, experts come to your pond and make a scientific and biological justification. The result of the research will be the conditions under which you will grow carp.
Obviously, in 90% of cases, a subsequent sale is planned. For this to be legal, you must register your own company.
Here it is already necessary to obtain a license, as well as to register. All together it will come out at about 10,000 rubles.
We also need a sanitary permit confirming that everything in the pond is clean and good.
In addition, an important component is the quality control that is carried out when selling carp. This document indicates that your carp is the best in the entire region.
Calculation of costs and profits
I would like to say once again that raising carps as a business is a very profitable activity that does not require large investments. Now we will fully deal with the numbers. So, one hectare of a reservoir can be stocked up with approximately 250 kilograms of carp.In three years this amount of fish will increase to about 2,500 tons. One carp gives offspring in the amount of 300,000 thousand eggs. Of course, most die, but nevertheless it is quite a lot.
The average investment in equipping a pond with a size of 1 hectare and raising fish there will amount to about 60,000-70000 rubles. This includes the purchase of fry. As for the profitability of the business, a lot depends directly on the entrepreneur. On average, it is 20%, which is not so small.
A ton of fry carp today has a price of 70,000 rubles, plus or minus several thousand. We will need several hundred kilograms, that is, about 17,000 rubles. It must be remembered that, in spite of its unpretentiousness to food, fish stops its growth at lower temperatures. Carp is gaining weight several years after stocking.
So, to summarize some of the results. For documents you need 10,000 rubles., For the purchase of fry - 17,000, for the arrangement of a reservoir - 20,000 (this is the purchase of equipment, and sealing, etc.), for the purchase of a ton of feed (for the first month) - 10,000, for small expenses - 3000-5000. In total, we have 60,000-62,000 rubles.
A bit about technology
If you know the breeding technology, then the whole process will be significantly accelerated. In principle, this item can be included in your business plan. Carp breeding is currently carried out by 3 methods:
- extensive (fish farming in ponds);
- semi-intensive (with the help of cages);
- intensive (in closed installations);
It will be useful to say that the 2nd method is most often used, since with it you can achieve optimal results. Of course, cage breeding is good only in the warm season, but the profitability of such a business is 10% higher compared to the first method. As for closed containers, this is the most expensive way, but also the most profitable. But this is far from all, since we need to worry about feeding the carp, which we will talk about later.
Need to additionally feed or not?
Here the opinions of entrepreneurs differ. Someone says that dressing is necessary, someone believes that it is superfluous, the fish will grow. The fact is that in the pond there is all the necessary food for her.
However, most still use feed as feed. If the fish eats everything that it finds in the lake, it will gain several kilograms of weight per year (3-4).
If it is fed with compound feed, then it will be about 15 kilograms. Currently, one ton of feed has a price of 8000-10000 rubles.
An important point is the optimal weather conditions. If there is a drought, then the water from the pond will gradually leave, it needs to be added. Also, in case of drought, the price of grain increases by 5-15%, and this is important for us, as this directly affects the cost of feed. You can say that if you are going to keep your pond small, then you can feed the fish a little bit.
Additional Information
It is worth noting that raising carps as a business will not be a problem only if you know what to do and are clearly committed to success. Moreover, we have already decided that it does not require large investments. We rent a reservoir, the price of which depends on the area. After that we buy fry and get the necessary documents. Further, it’s a matter of technology, in principle, there are small expenses - for feed, cages, etc.
I would like to say that despite the absence of any obvious difficulties, the cultivation of carps is not so simple. There are many reasons for this. For example, the constant change in the price of feed, as well as the fish that we put up for sale. So, in one year in the fall it can cost 70 rubles per kilogram, and in the summer it’s already 90-100. Naturally, the main earnings will be in summer and spring, as well as in early autumn.
Conclusion
It should be noted that currently the competition in this area is relatively small, but the demand for high-quality fish, on the contrary, is large.From this we can conclude that with proper efforts it is possible to achieve good results. But, as noted above, raising carps as a business requires a lot of time and effort. Moreover, the fish begins to gain weight a few years after the reservoir is stocked.
If you have a large pond, then you can open paid fishing on it. But immediately it is necessary to set limits on the number of fish caught, etc. If the business is successful, you can open a small stall with fishing tackle, as well as build a couple of houses and gazebos for recreation.
