Sutao Den

1 Hangzhou Shengyou Agricultural Development Co., Ltd, Hangzhou 310012, Zhejiang, China
2 Zhejiang Agronomist College，Hangzhou 310021, Zhejiang, China
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Aquaculture, 2026, Vol. 16, No. 5   
Received: 09 Sep., 2026    Accepted: 20 Oct., 2026    Published: 27 Oct., 2026

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

The Chinese soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis) is an economically important aquaculture species in China, and its growth performance and production benefits are influenced by various factors, including culture environment, management practices, and resource utilization efficiency. To clarify the production characteristics and optimization strategies of different culture models, this review systematically compares intensive greenhouse culture, conventional pond culture, and rice-turtle co-culture in terms of water temperature, water quality, stocking density, and ecological environmental conditions based on relevant domestic and international studies. The effects of these culture models on body weight gain, survival rate, feed utilization efficiency, culture cycle, health status, and product quality are analyzed, and their overall benefits are evaluated from the perspectives of production costs, economic returns, and ecological sustainability. Previous studies indicate that intensive greenhouse culture can promote growth and shorten the culture cycle by maintaining stable environmental conditions, but it requires substantial infrastructure investment and energy consumption and may impose considerable environmental pressures under high stocking densities. Conventional pond culture provides relatively favorable natural environmental conditions, although growth performance is susceptible to seasonal variations. Rice-turtle co-culture can improve resource utilization efficiency through natural food utilization and nutrient cycling and, under certain conditions, enhance survival rates, feed utilization, and ecological environmental performance. Overall, different culture models have distinct advantages, and their suitability depends on production objectives, environmental conditions, and management practices. Future efforts should focus on stage-specific culture, appropriate stocking density management, precision nutrition, and aquatic environmental management to promote the development of efficient, high-quality, cost-effective, and ecologically sustainable Chinese soft-shelled turtle aquaculture.

Chinese soft-shelled turtle; Culture models; Growth performance; Economic benefits; Ecological sustainability