Cockroach farms are on the rise in China as breeders hope to earn big money on the dreaded pests with as much as $20 per pound. Dried cockroaches are being marketed with rising demand among drug companies that use them as key ingredients in Asian traditional medicines and cosmetics.

One farmer said roaches are not difficult to breed since chicken coops can be converted to house millions of cockroaches. Wang Fuming, 43, a cockroach farmer, takes care of the roaches and ensure they have plenty of dark places to hide in between sheets of corrugated metal and egg cartons. He is used to having cockroaches crawl on his arms and inside the sleeves of his shirts whenever he pulls out one of the nests in his farm for visitors to see. He said visitors should have nothing to be afraid of.

Fuming has the largest cockroach business in China and most probably worldwide. He owns six farms with a total population of 10 million cockroaches. He tries to make a fortune by selling the insects to cosmetic companies and makers of Asian herbal medicines. Cockroaches are considered cheap sources of protein by these companies.

Periplaneta Americana or the American cockroach is the preferred breed for cockroach farming. The reddish-brown cockroach can grow up to 1.6 inches. It can fly when it reaches maturity unlike its German counterpart.

Fuming started his cockroach business in 2010. Dried cockroaches are priced $20 per pound. Traditional medicine producers buy in bulk and stock them as pulverized cockroach powder.

The Chinese businessman thought about raising pigs but decided to let it go since profit margins were low. He said in cockroach farming an investment of 20 yuan or $3.25 will yield 150 yuan or $11.

According to the LA Times, China has around 100 cockroach farms with more being opened as fast as how cockroaches multiply. The cockroach farming industry was not known in China until August 2013 when a million cockroaches escaped from a farm in Jiangsu Province.

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