Rearing cockroaches is a thriving business in China

Breeder Zhang Jianjun on his farm in Jiangsu province of eastern China with cockroaches climbing the interior walls.     Photograph: Zhang JianjunBy Stephan ScheuerBreeder Zhang Jianjun stands motionless in a dark room, yet all around him is a hive of activity.  Cockroaches scurry along the floor at his feet, up and down the walls and even across the ceiling. Not that Zhang is in the least perturbed. This is an everyday occurrence for the Chinese expert, whose job is to cultivate the bugs as a lucrative business. “My farm occupies just 400 sq m,” said Zhang, who has no idea of exactly how many cockroaches are thriving in his tiny kingdom. “There are too many to count,” he said.Raising cockroaches is a widespread commercial activity in China, thanks to the pharmaceutical industry, which uses the insects as the basis for a range of treatments.Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) recommends various exotic elixirs made from cockroaches, even though the critters are regarded as a pest by the rest of the world.One such drug is sold under the name ‘Kangfuxin’. Prescriptions advise users to drink liquidised cockroach powder three times a day or rub it on the skin in the form of a paste. Claimed benefits include a boost to the body’s immune defences, protection against infections and even relief of chronic stomach complaints.Another brand of powder made from the bugs is said to ward off breast cancer and is used for a range of anti-wrinkle skin cosmetics.Testimonials from experts say the cockroach cures do actually work, according to Pu Sheban, a professor at the medical college in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing. The authorities have given their seal of official approval to the treatments.Kangfuxin is a generic name for cockroach medicines which have been sold since 2010 by four companies each licensed to do so by the China Food and Drug Administration. “Chinese medicine traditionally regards cockroaches as having a remedial effect,” said Pu.Since authorities gave the green light, the cockroach business has been booming. Demand has soared, according to Chinese media reports.Cockroach breeders are currently producing around 1,000 tonnes a year. This is not anything like sufficient to satisfy demand, which experts estimate at some 3,000 tonnes annually.Back at Zhang’s farm in the eastern province of Jiangsu, the flat insects with their powerful legs and extended feelers are dashing all over the place inside the building.  “I get 55 yuan for a pound of them,” said Zhang — a sum which equates to roughly $9.A number of his friends are keen to get into the cockroach trade. They dream of earning big money, especially from a brand of particularly sterile cockroach which can be sold for up to 1,200 yuan per pound.Despite the enthusiasm for cockroaches the huge number of the insects in captivity in China can pose hazards. An estimated 1mn cockroaches escaped recently from a greenhouse where they were being bred. The neighbours are still trying to cope with the army of creepy-crawlies, which are renowned for their hardy resilience to many pesticides. — DPA