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Free range snail farming could be a viable production method for the fledgling edible snail industry in Australia, according to a new booklet from the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC).
Titled Farming Edible Snails– lessons from Italy, the report describes techniques for production of edible snails and is based on information gathered in Europe by Orange-based (NSW) snail grower Sonia Begg.
A major finding is that “pasture production” or “free-range” systems could replace the labour-intensive and time-consuming production systems currently in use in Australia.
Sonia said the information and photos in this report were gathered in Northern Italy in September least year while attending the International Snail Farming Institute and the 32nd Conference of International Snail Farmers.
“During the last 30 years in Italy, snail farming has moved from a small cottage industry to a large-scale, agricultural farming enterprise,” she said.
“For many years in Italy and other parts of Europe, snails were collected from the wild. This activity led to diminished numbers of snails in their natural habitat, so an embargo was placed on collection of wild snails.
“In Italy today, wild snails are no longer considered as a food source as stringent health regulations are now in place. This is necessary to protect the consumer against collected snails that may have ingested toxic plants or potentially harmful chemicals.”
After years of experimentation and trials for housing and breeding, the current Italian method of raising Helix species of snails in open areas of ‘pasture production’ has proved to be less labour intensive and more cost effective than growing snails indoors or in greenhouses, she said
On-going overheads are lower compared to the indoor or greenhouse production, as the main costs are only for seeds and the labour for ground preparation and sowing the vegetable crops.
The reports builds on information contained in an earlier RIRDC publication titled Breeding and Growing Snails commercially in Australia, which found there was potential for the establishment of a commercial snail industry in this country.
That report detailed intensive production methods using beds and also management of humidity and other environmental variables.
Breeding and Growing Snails commercially in Australia has been the most-downloaded report from the RIRDC website every month for more than two years, which is no mean feat given the site has more than 1000 reports and receives more than 600,000 hits per month.
Copies of most RIRDC reports can be downloaded free of charge from the
RIRDC website www.rirdc.gov.au, which has more than 1000 research reports
on a wide range of rural industries.
Hard copies can be purchased online or by phone (02) 6272 4819. A free
publication catalogue is also available.
ENDS
Media inquiries
Sonya Begg Ph: (02) 6361 8104 Mob: 0408 659 730 Email: snails@netwit.net.au.
RIRDC Martin Field (02) 6272 4735 or 0418 430 760
Please note: electronic copies of this press release can be obtained
from martin.field@rirdc.gov.au
 
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