Sino Agro Food builds first demonstration fish farm in China

Sino Agro Food Inc, an integrated, diversified agriculture technology and organic food company with subsidiaries operating in China, announces it has begun construction on its first major demonstration fish farm using the company's "A Power" re-circulating aquaculture system (RAS) technology.

The demonstration farm is being built on a 13,200-square-metre site adjacent to the company's HU plantation in Enping, China. The 6,000 m2 demonstration farm will be housed in two pre-engineered metal frame buildings which are fully insulated. The additional infrastructure improvements such as roads, drainage, dams and power supplies recently built will be shared coordinately with the HU operations.

The facility will provide chemical- and pollution-free organic fish and fish products. Rate of water usage per day will be less than 2.5% and power consumption at less than 5% of the overall annual production cost, making the operation one of the most efficient fishery operations in China. All wasted water will be used to fertilize the adjacent HU Plantation.

Current production will consist of sleeping cod, flat head fish, freshwater big head prawns and a combination of 5/6 other common Chinese species, with output capacity of up to 35 tonnes per year.

Once completed, the farm will serve as Sino Agro's "proof of concept" by providing Chinese businessmen, investors and Government officials with the ability to tour and understand the company's operation, said Lee Solomon, CEO of Sino Agro Food Inc.

"Our goal is to show that our system will efficiently produce quality organic chemical- and pollution-free fish. Our system can be constructed inland as long as there is a viable source of water providing the ability to build additional farms in key areas where logistics are a problem," he added.

The company is hoping to tap into the vast potential and size of the aquaculture industry in China and its need for modernisation, Solomon said.