The first USSEC Intensive Pond Aquaculture (IPA) demonstration site meeting has been successfully completed in Lu’an City, Anhui Province, China.  This site is operated in cooperation with the Lu’an Huarun Aquaculture Farm.

The grass carp inside the USSEC - Huarun joint IPA demonstration cells grew from 760 grams (g) to 2,300 g in 162 days with a feed conversion rate (FCR) of 1.6:1.0.  The average production at harvest was 144 kilograms (kg) / cubic meter (m³) in Cell 1 and the return of investment (ROI) was 27.7 percent.
IPA, sponsored by the Iowa Soybean Association, requires only minimal modification to ponds, including the addition of a white water system and in-pond production cells.  Furthermore, zero water discharge will increase yield with no negative impact on the environment.

The first USSEC IPA demonstration has generated strong awareness and interest among the producers in the region.  Therefore, many government officials, aquaculture extension representatives and farmers have visited the demonstration farm during the production period and also witnessed the inventory harvest of the demonstration.
USSEC China Freshwater Aquaculture Technical Manager Zhou Enhua was recently invited by the Luan Municipal Fishery Bureau to give a technical presentation on the IPA principles, system design, raceway construction and operation.  It has been reported that eight aqua farms have been selected in different counties and districts by the local government to test and adopt USSEC’s IPA technology in 2015.  USSEC’s aqua staff in China will continue to provide more technical support for the adoption of the USSEC IPA technology in the future.  The USSEC IPA is regarded as a breakthrough technology for the modernization of the freshwater aquaculture in China.