aquaculture success story

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AquacultureSuccess Stories

Radheyshyam

G. S. SahaH. K. De

Odisha

AquacultureSuc

cessStories

Radheyshyam,G.S.

Saha,H.K.De


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AquacultureAquacultureAquacultureAquacultureAquacultureSuccess StoriesSuccess StoriesSuccess StoriesSuccess StoriesSuccess Stories

CENTRAL INSTITUTE OF FRESHWATER AQUACULTURE(Indian Council of Agricultural Research)

P.O. Kausalyaganga, Bhubaneswar-751002, Odisha

Dr. Radheyshyam,Principal Scientist

Dr. G. S. Saha,Senior Scientist

Dr. H. K. De, Senior Scientist


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Aquaculture Success Stories

Year of publication : 2012

Published by : Dr. P. Jayasankar

DirectorCentral Institute of Freshwater AquacultureKausalyaganga, Bhubaneswar - 751002Odisha, India

Edited by : Dr. Radheyshyam, Principal Scientist

Dr. G. S. Saha, Senior ScientistDr. H. K. De, Senior Scientist

2012, Director, Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Kausalyaganga,

Bhubaneswar-751002

Printed at : Capital Business Service & Consultancy, B-51, Sahid Nagar, Bhubaneswar [email protected]

ii

ISBN : 978-81-924918-4-4


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Aquaculture is gaining importance within India and globally for

its contribution not only to food and nutritional security, but also

to livelihood security. India with its vast inland aquatic resources

has high potential for contributing to increased fish production

through aquaculture and create/improve livelihoods especially

in the rural areas. However, this potential is yet to be fully

harnessed.

There is growing realization of the lack of adequate diffusion of

scientific information/technologies from research to the farmingcommunity. At the same time, lack of information flow from farmers to researchers on the

problems/issues, is constraining in the conduct of demand driven research, resulting in a

huge gap in the quality of research output required at the farm level. The planned Farmers'

First project of ICAR will hopefully address this disconnect and would enable farmer-led

research which in the long run would help empower farming community.

In the absence of access to modern technologies, the farmers often experiment with their

limited resources and traditional knowledge and come up with practices/technologies

that are appropriate which in turn become popular among the farming community in

similar agro-climatic zones. These farmers' innovations need to be nurtured, promotedand complemented with scientific inputs where necessary. Organization of Farm

Innovators' Meets and the documentation of success stories are gaining momentum in

recent years. I am happy to learn that the Central Institute Freshwater Aquaculture (CIFA),

Bhubaneswar has organized 'Aquaculture Innovators Meet' creating an environment for

the farmers to share their innovations with scientists and get their time tested innovations

recognized.

This publication 'Aquaculture Success Stories' documents in details the innovative

aquaculture practices perfected by the farmers from Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha

states. Formal science needs to acknowledge this wisdom and strengthen grass root levelinnovations.

This book will be a very good source of reference material on aquaculture innovations and

will be useful to researchers, students, entrepreneurs and policy makers.

M. Vijay Gupta

World Food Prize Laureate

iii

M E S S A G E

31stMarch, 2012


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The Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (CIFA),

Bhubaneswar started its journey as a full fledged institute in the

year 1987 and is celebrating 25th year of its glorious existence

during April 1, 2011- March 31, 2012. During the last two and a

half decades of devoted research, the institute has developed

several epoch-making technologies which have revolutionizedfreshwater aquaculture sector in the country. India presently

produces 8.1 million tons of fish per annum of which almost half

is contributed by the freshwater aquaculture sector. With the

stagnating catches from natural waters, aquaculture sector bears the major responsibility

for ensuring fish production in the country. The central focus of CIFA is to develop farmer-

friendly production technologies of major carps, minor carps, catfish, prawn, ornamental

fish, murrels, Anabas, pabda and molluscs. The institute is also spending considerable

efforts in transfer of technology, training of trainers as well as farmers and policy advocacy

in important areas of aquaculture. The Institute is committed to implement the motto

FARMER FIRST in its letter and spirit.

The Institute had organized 'Aquaculture Innovators Meet' on 10 July 2011 with an objective

to share the farmers' innovations with scientists and also to felicitate them. The meet was

a huge success. The compilation of success stories christened as "Aquaculture Innovators"

has become popular among the researchers as well as the planners. So much so that we

soon ran out of stock and soft copy had to be uploaded in website of CIFA.

The present compilation, 'Aquaculture Success Stories', is the second in series and is more

varied and rich in content. Let me place on records my gratefulness to Hon'ble Secretary,

DARE and Director General, ICAR Dr. S. Ayyappan and DDG (Fisheries) Dr. B. Meenakumarifor their constant encouragement. My compliments to Dr Radheyshyam, Principal Scientist;

Dr. G S Saha, Senior Scientist and Dr. H K De, Senior Scientist for their efforts in bringing

out the compilation on the occasion of 26thAnnual Day of CIFA.

P Jayasankar

Bhubaneswar

1stApril, 2012

Foreword

Central Institute of Freshwater AquacultureCentral Institute of Freshwater AquacultureCentral Institute of Freshwater AquacultureCentral Institute of Freshwater AquacultureCentral Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture(Indian Council of Agricultural Research)

Kausalyaganga, Bhubaneswar-751 002, Odisha, India

kesvere ceerepeue peerJeHeeueve DevegmebOeeve mebmLeeve(Yeejleere ke=ef


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The Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (CIFA), a constituent of Indian Councilof Agricultural Research (ICAR), a premier research institute devoted to freshwateraquaculture research and development in the country started its journey in the year 1987

and is observing Silver Jubilee this year. During the last 25 years of dedicated research, the

institute has developed several epoch-making technologies which have revolutionized

freshwater aquaculture sector in the country. The Council is embarking upon a new project

called ' FARMER FIRST' that seeks to strengthen Farmer-Scientist linkage with focus on

innovation, feedback, stakeholder participation and new institutional configuration. Itwould enable farmer-led research which in the long run would help empower farming

community.

The Institute had organized 'Aquaculture Innovators Meet' on 10 July 2011 with an objective

of sharing farmers' innovations with scientists and also to felicitate them. The meet was a

huge success and a compilation of success stories christened as Aquaculture Innovators

was prepared. We are happy to present the 'Aquaculture Success Stories' which is second

in the series. The first one 'Aquaculture Innovators has been well accepted by the readers

and in view of popular demand the soft copy has been uploaded in Institute website. Thepresent volume contains eleven case studies from Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha.

The cases document how innovative package of practices in the field of freshwater

aquaculture has enabled the farmers obtain higher yield. Each case has been visited by a

team of experts several times and due care is taken in presenting an in depth view of the

practices adopted by the farmers. There is an urgent need to document such innovations

and share with others.

The compilation would serve as a store house of information on field level constraints for

which researchers may devise appropriate solutions. It is hoped that the present volume

will be equally popular among the readers and would go a long way in promoting grass

roots level innovations. The fact documented in these success stories are solely the views

of fish farmers and authors.

Radheyshyam

G S Saha

H K De

vii

P R E F A C E

1stApril, 2012

CIFA, Kausalyaganga


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Livestock-horticulture-grass-agro forestry-fish integration at 1

Pokharbhinda Village, Kushinagar in Eastern Uttar PradeshRadheyshyam, Tarun Shyam, G. S. Saha and S. K. Sinha

Horticulture-fish integration in newly constructed pond 22

G. S. Saha, Radheyshyam, A. K. Behera, Lekha Safui and Geeta Saha

Mass spawn production through multiple carp breeding and carp seed 32

rearing in succession using sub-leased village community ponds

Radheyshyam, Tarun Shyam and G. S. Saha

Carp fry-fingerling-yearling-food fish production in succession in 47

village community ponds and spawn production in own hatchery

Radheyshyam, Tarun Shyam, G.S.Saha and Kedarnath

Rural farmers towards industrial aquaculturist in partnership 60

Radheyshyam

Conservation and multiple uses of water in mid Himalayan region 78of Uttarakhand - a success story

Suresh Chandra, S.K. Srivastava, S.K. Gupta, Prem Kumar, N.N. Pandey,R.S.Patiyal and P.C. Mahanta

Grow out carp polyculture by SC/ST women of Palsaguda, 85

Boudh, Odisha - a case study

H. K. De, D. N. Chattopadhyay, Radheyshyam, G. S. Saha,A. K. Dash, T. S. Satpati and S. Pal

Freshwater prawn entrepreneurship 94

Prasanti Mishra

Freshwater prawn culture by the women self-help groups in 99

Balipatna block of Khurda district, Odisha a successful venture

Prasanti Mishra, Nirupama Panda, S. Behera, Lekha Safui and B. Behera

Pulse crop-fish integration in Shirhir village of Allahabad 104

Suresh Chandra

Transforming life through community aquaculture: 112

a case of tribal village in Odisha

Nagesh Kumar Barik

viii


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1Aquaculture Success Stories

Livestock-horticulture-grass-agro forestry-fish integration at

Pokharbhinda Village, Kushinagar in Eastern Uttar Pradesh

Radheyshyam, Tarun Shyam*, G.S.Saha and S.K.Sinha**

Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture

Kausayalganga, Bhubaneswar-751002, India

*KIIT University, Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar

** Office of DDF, Gorakhpur Division, Gorakhpur, UP

Introduction

Integrated farming system is one of the best methods for maximizing animal and plant

protein production through optimum use of land, water and waste resources at sustainable

level. In this system many sub-systems are involved, wastes of one subsystem act as inputfor another subsystem. Thus, virtually nothing is wasted and ecological balance is

maintained. A large variety of products are produced at one place to meet the needs of

undernourished populace. It uplifts livelihood, improves food security, poverty alleviation

and generates income and employment in rural areas. In this regard Central Institute of

Freshwater Aquaculture (CIFA) is pioneering in research and development efforts on a

wide range of region- and resource-specific technologies to enhance fish production.

However, increasing price of prepared feeds contribute almost 60-70% of operation cost of

the fish production. It needs priority attention. To mitigate the problems CIFA has

developed various resource- and location-specific integrated fish farming modelsappropriate for adoption in different agro climatic zones of the country. These developed

integrated fish farming (IFF) models have been disseminated to extension functionaries of

State Fisheries Departments, State Agricultural Universities, Fisheries Colleges,

Universities, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, bankers, researchers, non-governmental

organizations, entrepreneurs etc. through various means. They in turn, popularize need

based IFF models and skills to the end users for sustainable adoption. In this process many

entrepreneurs/rural youths have adopted need-based IFF model to generate additional

family income, self employment and improve nutritional security. They have their own

stories of success to express. The governing factors for such variable successes, modus oftechnology adoption and economic profitability need to be popularized among other fellow

farmers to follow suit. However, it invariably remained undocumented. In view of this a

success case of Mr. Satya Prakash Singh on livestock-horticulture-grass-agro forestry-fish

integration at Pokharbhinda village is documented in this communication. Modus of

operandi of resource specific standard technologies and economic profitability may inspire

local farmers to adopt these techniques in their fields in a sustainable way for improving

their livelihood.


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2 Aquaculture Success Stories

Background information

Mr. Satya Prakash Singh is a young man in his thirties from Pokharbhinda village,

PO:Bankata, Block-Motichauk, Kaptanganj, District Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh. His main

occupation was agriculture but he changed it into aquaculture. He was in possession of1.08 ha agriculture land and has over 11 years of experience in the field of aquaculture.

During his student life, his father who was a junior engineer in Uttar Pradesh Bijali Nigam

had constructed a small backyard pond of 0.08ha area for fish culture in a traditional way.

Though, the total fish production was consumed by their family members and relatives,

the analysis of fish culture economics indicated that it was more profitable enterprise than

other agriculture crops. When Mr. Satya Prakash Singh was a student, he was actively

involved in fish culture activities with keen interest. In due course of time he developed

confidence in the profitability of fish culture. Therefore just after completion of graduate

Fig.1: Recycling of organic wastes in multiple integration in Kushinagar, UP


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degree in political science and economics in 2003 he fully devoted his efforts towards

integrated fish farming (carp spawn, fry, fingerling, yearling and food fish culture) with

livestock, horticulture, grasses and agroforestry. Seeing the keen interest of Mr. S.P. Singh

in fish farming his father purchased 4.8 ha unproductive low land @ Rs.1, 25,000/ha for

establishing an integrated fish farm in the year 2000. His father constructed five ponds

(0.4, 0.4, 0.6, 1.0 and 1.0 ha) during 2003-2004 with the financial support of Central Bank of

India, Bodarwar through FFDA availing 20% subsidy. The water and land ratio of the fish

farm was maintained to 3.4:1.4. Since then, integrated fish culture is being continued by

this farmer in a progressive manner. The farmer has been honored by the district collector,

Kushinagar on 23.12.2010 for highest fish production in his district. The diagrammatic

illustration of horticulture-grass cultivation-agro forestry-duck farming-poultry farming-

buffalo farming-biogas plant-fish integration model of Mr.Singh is presented in Fig.1.

Materials and methodsLivestock management:

Fig.2: Duck-fish integration at Pokharbhainda, Bankata,

Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh

Duck management: Duck shed

was constructed in 18.58 m2 for

keeping 200 ducks on the pond

embankments (Fig.2). One day

old ducklings were purchased

from Varanasi @ Rs.15/duckling.

Indian layer breeds Khaki cambellwere reared. Starter feed

containing 17% proteins with

vitamins, mineral salts and trace

elements were fed 4 times daily till

Fig.3: Pond water as wet run for ducksFig.4: Bamboo fence and pond embankments used

as dry run for ducks

Dry run

Wet run


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3 weeks of age. After 3 weeks

they were fed 3 times in a day.

Drinking water was given at

regular intervals near to the

feeders. Grower feed wasprovided from 9-20 weeks.

Thereafter layer and breeder

feed was given to birds. Pond

embankments were fenced

with frame of bamboo sticks

(Fig. 4) to prevent ducks to

escape outside. While pond

embankment was used as dry

run the pond was used as wetrun for the ducks (Fig.3 and 4). In duck shed provision was made for laying the eggs (Fig.5).

Poultry management:Poultry shed was constructed adjoining to fish farm in 102.19m2.

To keep birds comfortable, poultry house was provided with adequate facilities to make it

reasonably cool during summer, sufficiently warm during winter. Provision of adequate

fresh air, sun shine and dry condition was also ensured. Birds were kept under intensive

system. In one operation 1000 birds were kept in deep litter system (Fig.6). Annually 4

crops of birds were reared. For rapid body weight gain, meat type broilers were reared. For

proper sanitation dry organic matter (chopped straw, paddy husk, saw dust) was used to

cover the floor. Day old chicks were purchased and stocked in well prepared hygienic

Fig.5. Duckshed made for laying the eggs

Fig.6: Growing poultry birds adjoining to pond embankments


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poultry shed. Chicks were vaccinated against

viral diseases. Required prophylactic

measures were provided as safeguard against

epidemics before keeping them in poultry

house. Poultry birds were fed with balancedpoultry feed. From beginning to 6 weeks,

starter and from 6 to 9 weeks, finisher

commercial feed was given. Feed was

provided to birds in feed hoppers to avoid

wastage and maintain hygienic conditions.

Adequate quantity of hygienic drinking water

(Fig.7) was provided regularly.

Dairy management:One dairy unit was also

established on the pond embankments. Five buffaloes and one cow were kept in the shed

(Fig. 8). They were fed with 80 kg Berseem grass daily. During off season of Berseem, Bajara

fodder was fed to cattle. In

addition to green fodder,

buffaloes were fed with a

mixture of bran, wheat straw,

green grasses, salt and

mineral mixture with water

ad-libitum. Lactation was

carried out twice in a day.Milk was sold to middleman

at farm gate. One biogas plant

was constructed on the pond

embankment (Fig. 9 & 10).

Fig.7 : Drinking water for growing birds

Fig.7: Buffaloes-fish integration at Pokharbhinda, Bankata,

Kushinagar, UP

Fig.9 : Buffalo dung used for producing gas

and slurry

Fig.10 : Slurry for pond manure and gobar gas for

cooking and lighting


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Horticulture crops:Pond embankments were made 10-20 wide for plantation of 400

Teak, 30 Seesam, 100 Arjuna, 12 Mango, 5 Jackfruit, 2 Onwala, 7 Guava, 450 Banana, 30

Papaya plants and vegetable crops like pumpkin, cucumber, bean, raddish, coriander,

spinach, garlic, chilli etc. (Fig.11). Climbing plants of vegetables-like cucurbits (Fig. 12) and

pumpkin were allowed to climb on the trees the pond embankments. They were also grown

Fig.11.Leafy vegetables on the pond embankments at Pokharbhinda, Bankata, Kushinagar, UP

Fig.12. Cucurbit crop on pond embankments at

Pokharbhinda, Bankata, Kushinagar, UP

on the frame prepared on the pond embankments (Fig.13). Crops of leafy vegetables,

cucurbit, pumpkin, banana, papaya, arahar and growing teak plants on the pond

embankments at Pokharbhinda are shown

in Fig.11-18. During first four years, pulse

crop like Arahar (pigeon pea) was grown

on the pond embankments with the annual

production of 300-400 kg and used for

family consumption. Leaf litter fall of

Arahar plants is either consumed by the

grass carp directly or decomposed and

mineralized for increasing water

productivity. Its wooden parts were used

as fuel for cooking fish food daily and for

other miscellaneous domestic and

agricultural activities.


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Fig.13. Pumpkin crop on the frame on the pond

embankments

Fig. 14.Growing plants of banana and teak

Fig.15. Banana crop on pond embankments.

Fig.16. Papaya crop on pond embankments


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Fig.17. Growing Teak plants on pond embankments Fig. 18. Growing Teak plants and Arahar crops on

pond embankments

Fig.19. A crop of Berseem fodder

Fodder cultivation: About 0.4 ha land was used for growing green fodders. Fodder field

was well tilled, leveled and made free from weeds. Farm yard manure was applied in thefield. In addition to farm yard manure, di-ammonium phosphate was mixed in the soil before

sowing the seed. Berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum)seed was sown @28-30 kg/ha in the month

of November - December. Periodical irrigation and fertilization was done for fast growth and

better production of grass (Fig.19). From March onwards grass was cut 4-5 times. Daily 160

kg/0.4ha grass was harvested continuously for 2-3 months. Both grass carp and buffaloes

were fed with fresh berseem @ 80kg/day . During rest of the year Bajra fodder (Fig.20) and

elephant grass were produced to feed buffaloes and grass carps.

Fig.20. Crop of Bajara fodder

Carp polyculture:A newly constructed pond of 1.0 ha was exclusively used for food fish

culture. The pond bottom was ploughed and applied cattle dung @ 5-6 tonnes/ha. Borewell

water was added into pond up to 30 cm depth and treated with lime @100 kg/ha. Again it

was ploughed thoroughly to mix the manure and lime into the soil. Pond was then filled

with ground water up to the depth of 4-5. Once the plankton appeared, the pond was

stocked with Rohu- Labeo rohita, Mrigal- Cirrhinus mrigala andBhakur- Catla catla. Initially

fish seed was supplied by Government of Uttar Pradesh fishery department from Chhapia


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hatchery. Fish were fed

with mustard oil cake

and rice bran mixture

daily in perforated bag.

Currently, pond wasmade free from aquatic

weeds and weed as well

as predatory fishes. It

was made productive

by applying biogas

slurry, cattle dung and

inorganic fertilizers in

an appropriate ratio and

quantity. Wellprepared pond was stocked with yearlings of L. rohita, C. catla, C. mrigala,Grass carp-Ctenopharyngodon idella and Common carp- Cyprinus carpio in the ratio of

30:25:25:10:10 @ 10,000 yearlings/

ha. Fish were fed with a mixture of

mustard oil cake and broken rice

bran @20 kg /ha/day or with

Jalpary floating feed @20 kg/ha/

day. Grass carp were fed with

berseem and elephant grasses 20-30

minutes before applying

concentrate fish food in pond. After

paddy threshing huge amount of

paddy straw is produced. This was

also kept in the corner of pond (Fig.

21). This gradually decomposed

and got recycled into fish ponds.

Fish were harvested after 8 months of culture (Fig. 22) and sold to middlemen at the pond

site.

Carp brood stock management and spawn production: To produce carp spawn at

commercial scale one hatchery complex (one spawning pool of 10 dia and 4 depth, two

incubation pools each of 8 dia and 4 feet depth, one collection chamber, one overhead

tank of 30 x 12 x 5 size) was constructed in the farm (Fig.23). To facilitate spawn production

and carp culture operation two numbers of borewells were installed and two water pumps

were purchased. A one ha pond was used for brood stock maintenance. Pond was prepared

in the same way as in case of poly culture pond. Three-year old carp fish were used for

brood stock. Prepared pond was stocked @ 2 t/ha in September. C. catla, L. rohita, C. mrigala,

C.idella, H. molitrix and C. Carpiobrood fish were reared together. A mixture of mustard oil

Fig. 21. Broken paddy straw recycling in pond

Fig. 22. A haul of carp fish from poly culture


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cake, cooked broken rice (Fig.24) and common salt was provided in feeding tray @ 20kg/

ha/day. Grass carp were fed with berseem grass twice a day ad libitum. However, beforeone month of Grass carp

breeding, they were fed

with concentrate feed

along with berseem grass.

Periodical checking was

done to know the status of

brood fish maturity

(Fig.25). Clinar (Cyperme-

thrin) was applied @ 125

ml/ha to control Argulosis

fish disease. Biogas slurry

was applied periodically

to increase water

productivity. On the

appearance of algal bloom

or at the time of oxygen

depletion, feeding was postponed. While, C. carpio breeding commenced from January,

breeding of grass carp was started from February and Silver carp from April, Catla, Rohu

and Mrigal from May onwards every year. Pituitary gland extract was used as inducinghormone at normal dose. Grass carp and Silver carps were bred twice in a year, whereas

other fish were bred once in a season.

Fry, fingerlings and yearlings production in succession: Two ponds covering an area

of 1.0 ha were treated with celphos (Aluminium phosphide) @ 10 kg/ha by farmer to

eradicate predatory and weed fishes. Five days after treatment, pond was used for seed

rearing. At times, endosulphon treatment @ 8 liter/ha was done annually once at the time

of pond preparation for eradicating weed and predatory fishes. Pond treated with

Fig.25. A haul of matured brood fish at Pokharbhinda

Fig. 24. Cooked fish foodFig. 23. Hatchery complex at Pokharbhinda


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endosulphon was ready to be used for seed rearing after 20 days of application. To increase

pond productivity poultry droppings was applied @ 2500 kg/ha or cattle dung @ 5000 kg/

ha or biogas slurry @ 8000-10000 kg/ha depending upon the availability of manure in

farm. Pond was treated with lime @ 250 kg/ha. To eradicate aquatic insects from the ponds,

fish farmer treated ponds with Cypermethrin (Clinar) @ 125 ml/ha. It also reduces largersized zooplankton (predatory plankton) from the ponds. Then carp spawn was stocked @

5 liter/ha. Fries were fed daily once with a mixture of mustard oil cake and rice bran in the

ratio 1:1 by weight. Liquid biogas slurry was sprinkled @ 50kg /ha/day on pond surface.

Fry were harvested after 25-30 days of spawn rearing. Same pond was used for fingerling

rearing after increasing the water productivity and maintaining an appropriate stocking

density. After 3-4 months of rearing, fingerlings were harvested for stocking and/or

marketing. After this, pond was utilized for raising yearlings/food fish production with

appropriate management measures.

Results and discussionFood fish culture:During initial stage, growth of fish was not so encouraging especially during

first 2-3 years because of the newly constructed pond. Annual fish growth was up to 250-

500g only led to poor fish yield. However, during later period pond become more productive

and management practices were also improved with the experience. As such fish growth and

production increased significantly. Stocking and harvesting details of food fish culture is

given in Table-1. After 8 months of culture the growth of L. rohita, C. catla, C. mrigal, C. idella

and C. carpiowas 550, 950, 880, 1130 and 900 g respectively. Recovery ranged from 86-95% of

the total number of fish stocked. The total net fish yield was 6191kg/ha/8month (9288kg/

ha/yr) which was far above the national average fish production of the country (2900kg/ha/yr). High level of fish production was due to large size fish seed stocking, recycling of organic

wastes from the livestock and application of biogas slurry in an appropriate quantity along

with the provision of the supplementary feed to fish. The C. catlaand C. mrigalacontributed

maximum (C. catla, 27.38% and C. mrigala, 28.25%) fish production. Fish were sold @Rs.70-

110/kg depending upon species and size of fish to middle men at pond site.

Table 1 : Stocking and harvesting details of composite fish culture at Pokharbhinda fishfarm during 8 months (July-February) of culture period


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Economics of food fish production in 1 ha pond

at Pokharbhainda village in eastern U.P is

given in Table 2. Cost of fish production was

estimated to about Rs. 45/kg. From the Fig.25

it is obvious that the highest expenditure wasdue to manpower (31%) which indicated

employment generation in rural area in food

fish production. Fish seed contributed to

second highest (24%) however; it was supplied

by fish farmer from his own farm. Expenditure

on feed cost was only 14% against 60-70% of the standard feed cost. This might be due to

the fact that the organic matters were recycled from existing integrated fish farming system

and grass carp were fed with berseem, barjra and elephant grass. Farmer made a net profit

of Rs.4,16,068/ha/yr against an expenditure of Rs.4,19,852/ha/yr. Percentage return onthe expenditure was about 99% with cost benefit ratio of 1.0.

Table 2. Economics of food fish production in 1 ha pond at Pokharbhainda villageA. Operational cost

B.Gross return and net profit


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Carp breeding and spawn production: Fish matured in the month of March every year.

Spawning of C. carpiowas initiated from January, grass carp from February, Silver carp from

April and Catla, Rohu and Mrigal from May. Spent brood fish were utilized as professional

breeder for 4-5 years. After that they were replaced in phases. Species wise yearly spawn

production is given in Table. 3. Annual spawn production was 250 liters. Spawn productionof C. catla, L. rohita, C. mrigala, C. idella, H. molitrixand C. Carpiowas 40, 50, 50, 60, 40, 10 liters

respectively. Highest spawn production was due to C. idella(24%) followed by L. rohita and L.

mrigal a (20% each) and H. molitrixas well as C. catla(16% each). However, gross return from

the sell of C. idellaspawn contributed to 32%,C. catlato 21% and H. molitrixto 16%, L. rohita

and L. mrigala(13% each). Spawn was sold @ Rs1000-2000/litre depending upon the species

(Table 3). Gross return from spawn production was reported Rs.3,80,000/- per annum. Total

expenditure on brood stock maintenance, pond rentals, depreciation cost, pond preparation,

feeds, manure, medicines, hormones, labor charges, interest on working capital together

estimated to Rs.2, 50,000/yr. Total net earning was Rs.1, 30,000/- with the percentage returnon working capital 0.52% and cost benefit ration of 1.92.

Table 3: Annual species wise spawn production at Pokharbhainda fish farm

Fry, fingerling and yearling production in succession: Eradication of weed and

predatory fish by applying Celphos (Aluminium phosphide) need to be avoided because

frequent application of aluminium may adversely affect the pond environment. It reacts

Fig. 27. Large size fish seed production at Pokharbhinda

with water to form

phosphine gas (PH3) and

insoluble Al(OH)3. While

phosphine gas is

detrimental to humanbeing, the Al(OH)

3 may

acidify pond soil. Use of

Clinar (Cypermethrin) is

not desirable to control

aquatic insect as it also

kills natural fish food

organisms (plankton)

from the pond. After 25-


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30 days of rearing about 650 kg fry was harvested and sold @Rs.160/kg (1 kg fry = 1500

number). Three-four crops of fry were taken in one season. After fry harvest, the ponds

were treated with biogas slurry @5 t/ha or with cattle dung @3 t/ha. Along with residual

stock of fry, the ponds were stocked in such a way that stocking should be maintained to

200 kg/ha. Fish seed were fed with a mixture of mustard oil cake and rice bran @ 20 kg/day.After one week biogas slurry was applied @ 50kg /ha/day. Fry were grown to 3- 4 size

fingerlings after 3 months of rearing (Fig.27). Total 1280 kg fingerlings was harvested and

sold @ Rs.100/kg. (1 kg fingerlings = 300-400 numbers). Remaining fingerlings in pond were

reared into yearlings under similar management practices. At the end of year about 2650 kg

yearlings/ha was harvested and sold @ Rs.70/kg (Av.wt. of yearlings = 30 g). Total biomass

production of fry, fingerling and yearlings together was accounted to 6.33 t/ha/yr, fetching

gross return of Rs.6.98 lakh/ha/yr. Highest return (55%) was contributed by fry production

(Table 4).

Item wise expenditure, total gross income and net profit from carp fry, fingerling and yearling

production is given in Table 5. For fry, fingerling and yearling production in succession the

stocking materials (spawn, fry and fingerlings) was sourced from farmer own pond, it

contributes 26% of the total operational costs (Fig.28). Further, pond preparation which

shared about 11% of the total expenditure was managed by the farmer by recycling organic

wastes of the farm. Labour charge contributed to 21%, indicating an opportunity of

employment generation in rural area. Feed

cost was relatively less (18%) in

comparison to standard practice of

aquaculture operation, probably due to the

fact that the wastes obtained from different

subsystem of integrated fish farming was

recycled for increasing natural

productivity of the pond.

From this venture gross income was

Rs.6,97,500/ha/yr. Farmer made a net

profit of Rs. 3,90,212/ha/yr. Percentage

Table 4: Fry, fingerling and yearling production in succession in 1 ha pond at Pokharbhindafish farm


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return on the working capital was computed to 126.99% with the profitability index of 1.27

and cost benefit ratio of 0.79 indicating that this may act as a highly remunerative occupation

for rural youths. Cost of average fish biomass production was found to be Rs.48.45/kg. But

fry, fingerlings and yearlings were sold @Rs. 70-160/kg suggesting high margin of

profitability.

Table 5: Item wise expenditure on carp fry, fingerling, yearling production from 1 ha pondat Pokharbhinda, Kushinagar

A. Operational cost

B. Annual gross return and net profit

Fingerling and food fish production:One ha pond which was used for keeping spent fish,was prepared and stocked with 200 kg fry in August. Fry were reared for 2-3 months to

grow into fingerings. Fry were fed with mustard oil cake and rice bran mixture @20kg /

ha/day. In the month of November carp seed grew to fingerlings. About 1200 kg fingerlings/

ha was harvested and sold @Rs.160/kg. Residual fingerlings about 100 kg/ha were allowed

to grow into yearlings. Total 1000 kg yearlings was harvested and sold @Rs.90/kg. Rest

fingerlings were allowed to grow into food fish of 500-750 g up to April. A total of about

1250 kg food fish was harvested and sold @Rs.80/kg at pond site. After this, during April

to July pond was used for rearing spent fish obtained from breeding activities. Thus, the


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pond was judicially utilized throughout the year. In 9 months farmer made a gross income

of Rs. 3, 78,000/ha. The net profit was estimated to Rs.2, 15,650/- against an expenditure of

Rs.1,62,350/ha/9month. Percentage return on expenditure was 132.83% and profitability

index was 1.33. Each indicator suggests this as a highly profitable venture.

Livestock

Duck farming: Khaki cambells being a prolific layer, they started laying eggs at the age of

3-4 months. However, good egg production has obtained after 5 months of rearing. Ducks

continued laying eggs for

2-3 years depending upon

nutrition, health and

environmental condition.

They laid eggs during

night in duck shed. To layeggs some straw or hay

were kept in one side of

the shed in demarked area (Fig.3). During day

time ducks were allowed to graze in food fish

culture pond and brood fish pond. In seed (fry

and fingerling) rearing ponds, ducks were not

allowed as they consume less than 4 g size fish,

if remained hungry. While ducks graze aquatic

organisms as their food, they uniformly left

droppings into ponds which is taken by fish as feed and also helps in production of natural

fish food organisms. They acted as bio aerators while swimming on the surface of the ponds

and sediment bio-turbulent when searching food from pond sediment in shallower area.Average production was 180 eggs/bird (Fig.29). Farmer also produced 60 ducklings at his

own farm using fertilized eggs. Out of 200 birds 70 could be kept up to laying condition. After

2 years of egg production, they were sold @Rs. 150/kg. Actual operational cost and net profit

from duck farming in integrated aquaculture is shown in Table 6. Annually about 10,500

duck eggs were produced which were sold @Rs.5/egg. Total duck meat production was 175

kg which valued to Rs. 26,250/- @Rs. 150/kg. From this venture farmer could make a net

earning of Rs. 40, 050/-. The percentage net return on expenditure was estimated to be 103.49%

suggesting high profitable commodity when farmed with fish.

Fig.29. Duck layers and egg production at

Pokharbhainda, Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh


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Poultry farming:Good housing arrangement, balance feeding, proper health care and

other management measures provided optimum broiler flesh production. Bird droppings

after falling on the litter

were absorbed regularly.

In case the litter depth

became less, adequate

organic matter was added

so as to absorb droppings

properly. In case of damp

condition lime was added

to keep it dry. The litter

was regularly stirred for

aeration and upkeep of its

hygienic qualities. Chicks

also scatter their 10-15%

feed on the litter which

made the litter more nutritive. In about 2 months it became deep litter, after that it changed

to built up deep litter and fully built up litter in a period of 6 months and one year

respectively. This was used for recycling into fish pond, manuring horticultural cropsand fodder crops. They were maintained with intensive care. Average survival was

reported to be 95%. After 45 days of rearing the total production (Fig.30) was 2,100 kg

which was sold at the farm gate @Rs.60/kg. Thus the farmer got a gross income of

Rs.1,26,000/- in one operation. Against an expenditure of about Rs.1,06,000/- farmer could

make a net profit of Rs.20,000/- per operation. Annually 4 crops of broiler birds were

reared which fetched an annual net income of Rs. 80,000. Poultry droppings obtained from

3,800 birds was estimated over 2.5 tones in the form of deep litter poultry manure which was

used to manure fish pond (Fig. 31).

Table 6: Actual operational cost and net income generation in duck farming with aquacultureintegration

Fig.30. Poultry production on the pond embankment at Pokharbhinda


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Buffalo farming:Total 20-25 litre buffalo milk/day was produced in the farm. Milk was

sold at farm gate @Rs.20/litre. From milk production gross income was Rs.1, 80,000/yr

against an expenditure of

Rs.95,000/yr, leaving a net

income of about Rs.85,000/yr.Livestock wastes were used in

biogas plant to generate

electricity and cooking gas.

The animal wastes and/or

biogas slurry recycled into

pond to increase the

productivity. It was also used

as manure for horticultural

crops on pond embankmentsand growing green fodder.

Fodder production:Berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum)is an annual leguminous fodder crop.

It remained soft and succulent at all stages of growth and it is one of the most suitable

fodder crops for buffaloes and grass carp fish. It contains about 20% crude protein (dry

weight basis). Annually 50-60 tonnes/ha fodder can be produced with good management.

Berseem grass was harvested daily for feeding grass carp as well as buffaloes. Grass carp

consumed this grass voraciously. The fecal matter of grass carp was auto-recycled into

pond for producing plankton or bacteria-loaded detritus. Leftover fodder from buffalo-

shed was also applied into pond for recycling. On the pond embankment elephant grasswas grown and during monsoon Bajra grass was cultivated in fodder field to meet the

demand of buffalo and grass carp feed.

Fig.31. Poultry wastes on the pond embankment

Table 7: Total gross income and net profit from different commodities in integrated fishfarming at Pokharbhinda, Kushinagar


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From the above accounts it is obvious that farmer has made gross income of Rs. 30.54 lakhs

annually from all the farm commodities of integrated fish farming. The net profit wascomputed to Rs.13,56,980/4.8 ha/yr (Table 7). Maximum net return of the total expenditure

was reported from fingerling-yearling-food fish culture package (132.83%) and fry-

fingerling-yearling rearing package (126.99%) in succession. While in duck farming it was

103.49%, in food fish culture and buffalo farming 99.1% and 89.47% respectively. Commodity

wise percentage return on expenditure is depicted in Fig. 31.

Main reasons for success

Moral and infrastructure support from the parents and elder brother.

Financial support from the bank to construct integrated fish farm and hatchery complex.

Educated family background, keen interest and active involvement of farmer.

Strong linkages with state and central government offices. Constant technical support

from fishery department of Uttar Pradesh Govt. and other subject matter specialists

from the line departments of the state.

Backyard level fish culture by the farmer during his student life developed his self

confidence in its profitability.

Appropriate quality of soil and water for fish farming. Availability of water in bore

well because of low level water table in the area.

Major constraints faced

Poor communication particularly during monsoon season when the farm was

surrounded with water logged area.

Fish predation by wild animals like Fishing cats, Otters, Jackals, etc. Fishing cats used

to prey upon 3-4 kg size fish. They silently hide near the pond shore. As soon as fish

come near the margin of the pond; they suddenly attack on them and hold with the

help of their sharp claws. To prevent such loss due to predation Doberman dog has

been kept on the farm.


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Deterioration of water quality during the monsoon period. Frequent oxygen depletion

in brood fish pond resulted poor fish appetite, delayed maturity and gonad development

and thereby delayed spawning.

Poor responses towards fish seed sale in the locality because of poor road facilities for

transportation in rainy season. Silver carp seed is poorly accepted by the local fish

farmers.

Disease outbreak in poultry birds. At times, poor market response compels to rear

poultry birds beyond two months which resulted heavy consumption of feed. Thus

the profit margin becomes negligible.

Constant increase of poultry feed price and poor market demand adversely affected

the profitability in poultry production in small unit.

Suggestions for improvement

For year round implementation of activities, and input as well as farm output supply

it is worthwhile to facilitate road construction up to fish farm with the support of state

government for the ease of transport of inputs and farm produce.

For further increase of fish production in unit area under intensive culture, the provision

of aerator in food fish culture pond is essential. Supply of oxygen in brood fish pond to

prevent frequent oxygen depletion will be highly beneficial to accelerate fish appetite

and timely gonad maturity in brood fish.

Improvement of feeding with freshly prepared fish food using locally available

ingredients.

Any pesticide or rodenticide should not be used in an integrated farming system and

organic farming should be emphasized to maintain environmental sustainability.

Buffalo-shed washings and urine can be collected in a pit. After fermentation it could

be applied into fish pond to increase plankton production.

Livelihood analysis of the family

Major source of income of the farmer was fish culture (40%), service (20%), business (20%),

agriculture (10%), livestock (7%) and horticulture (3%) in descending order. Income

generated by the family members of the farmer was spent in various activities. About 30%of the total income was spent in fish culture, 20% in food, house and cloth, 20% in medicine,

education and social work, 20% in business, 5% in livestock, 3% in agriculture and 2% in

horticulture. This indicated maximum input support in aquaculture due to highest return.

Lessons learnt

Fish-livestock-horticulture-green fodder-agro forestry integration model developed by

farmer in an unproductive low land area with technical and financial supports of the

respective departments of Uttar Pradesh Government. Management of crop diversification


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(Fish, buffalo, duck, poultry, fruits, vegetables and teak plant) in one farm provided multi

commodities (spawn, fry, fingerling, yearling, food fish, milk, egg, duck meat, poultry meat,

fruits, vegetables and wood) at one platform to meet local requirements. Value addition of

buffalo-dung through biogas plant provided slurry as an efficient organic manure for

increasing pond productivity. Biogas generated was used for lighting farm-house andcooking food. Recycling of duck droppings and poultry wastes in fish ponds reduced feed

cost of fish. Use of fodder enhanced production of herbivorous fish and buffalo milk. This

system was environmentally benign, technologically appropriate, economically viable and

socially acceptable. In addition to organic manure recycling in poly culture, farmer also fed

the fish with supplementary diets. It resulted in fish production of 9.29 tonne/ha/yr, which

was far above the national average fish production of the country. Farmer produced 250

liter carp spawn, 2400 kg fry, 2480 kg fingerling, 3650 kg yearling, 7370 kg food fish, 8200

liter milk, 10500 eggs, 175 kg duck meat, 8400 kg poultry meat and adequate quantity of

fruits and vegetables. From all the activities, he made a net earning of Rs.13,56,980/4.8ha/yr. It may be helpful in making the area self sufficient in quality fish seed for rural aquaculture

development, improving food and nutritional security of the rural farmers, providing self

employment opportunities for rural youths and generating family income at sustainable

level. This is likely to encourage the regional farmers and entrepreneurs to follow suite at a

sustainable level for improving their livelihood efficiently using village resource.


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Horticulture-fish integration in newly constructed pond

G. S. Saha, Radheyshyam, A. K. Behera, Lekha Safui and Geeta Saha*

Central Institute of Freshwater AquacultureKausalyaganga, Bhubaneswar-751002, Odisha, India

*Directorate of Research for Women in Agriculture

Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India

Introduction

With ever increasing urbanization, industrialization and human density of the country,

per capita availability of land and water resources is declining. It exerts pressure on growing

rural population to ensure food production to meet their family needs. Under such

circumstances, rural farmers are struggling hard to generate additional income through

appropriate option of occupation for their livelihood. In this direction crop diversification

with its intensive management may play a crucial role in producing multi commodities at

one place with increased production and income generation from unit area. Resource poor

rural farmers also do experimentation in order to produce additional sustainable

commodities for greater profit to ensure their family livelihood. Many of them successfully

demonstrated their efforts. However, in few cases adoption of alternative occupations

remains unsustainable owing to certain unavoidable circumstances. One such resource poor

farmer is Mr. Ramchandra Behera, aged 64 years, of Village Jasuapur, PO. Satsankha, Pipili

Block of district Puri, Odisha. He was in possession of 2 ha agricultural land. Besides, hemaintained a beaten rice mill for generating additional income to meet the requirement of

his family. Subsequently, he took leadership in organizing a Youth Club involving 18 fish

farmers of the village. They took a weed infested Gram Panchayat pond for operating

community based fish farming to improve nutritional security of the family members. Mr

Behera worked as secretary of the Youth Club. This aquaculture was stopped after ten

years of operation due to expiry of lease period. However, Mr. Behera did not stop his

ambition of doing remunerative occupation of fish farming, although he did not have his

own pond resource. Subsequently he constructed one new pond to establish an integrated

fish farming model (horticulture - fish farming). Present case study deals with horticulture-fish integration in his newly constructed pond for generating additional family income at

sustainable level.


Under the guidance of Mr. Ram Chandra Behera, Youth Club took a community pond of

2.4 ha on lease for 10 years. Since the Gram Panchayat Pond (village community pond) was

totally covered with aquatic weed-mates, the actual annual lease value was fixed at only

Rs.1200/- per/year (@ Rs.500 ha/year). The members of the Youth Club were very


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enthusiastic to carry out fish farming in community pond. They cleaned aquatic weeds

manually. The heap of the aquatic weed was decomposed and recycled into pond during

later stage of fish culture. A fraction of weed and predatory fishes were removed from the

pond by repeated netting. Pond was also limed at recommended dose. Pond was stocked

with Rohu (5 cm), Catla (7.5 cm) and Mrigal (5 cm) @ 20,000 fingerlings /ha along with leftover weed and predatory fishes. Fish were not fed with any supplementary feed during

culture period. They relied on natural fish food organisms of the pond. During first year

fish were harvested after about one year of stocking by seining. In first crop they could

harvest about 1600 kg fish (@ 665 kg/ha/yr). However, all the fish could not be harvested.

Thus along with existing left over fishes pond was again stocked with fingerlings of Indian

major carps @ 15,000/ha. Fish were reared without providing any feed and fertilizers. After

that fishes were harvested 3-5 times in a year depending upon consumption needs of the

families of Youth Club members. Fish production was estimated to 850-1200kg/ha/yr

without any feed and fertilizers.

During operation of community based fish farming, farmers experienced poor fish

production due to various limitations. One of the most important limitations was lack of

supplementary feeds. To mitigate this problem, the secretary of the Youth Club, Mr. Behera

borrowed beaten-rice bran from his own mill for providing it as supplementary feed in

community pond. This was supplied by Mr. Behera with the condition that after the harvest

of fish crop he would be paid the price of feed. Thus during last few years of lease period

Youth Club members started feeding fish with beaten-rice bran @ 1000-1500kg/yr (@ 417-

625 kg/ha/yr) keeping other factors almost constant. By providing beaten-rice bran as

supplementary feed even at unbalanced and under dose, fish production increasedsignificantly to 2500-3000kg/yr (1042- 1250 kg/ha/yr). Contribution of weed and predatory

fishes was 15-24% of the total fish production; because these fishes were not fully eradicated

from the pond and most of these weed and predatory fishes were self recruiting fish species.

But after competition of sale of harvested fish, the youth club members paid him partial

cost of beaten-rice bran to Mr. Behera. They argued that it was value less waste material.

Since Mr. Behera couldnt dispose such waste materials even at a minimum price, he cleverly

used it in community pond for his personal gain. Perhaps they could not understand the

importance of supplementary feed in increasing fish production. Mr. Behera felt insulted

and resigned from the youth club. Moreover, pond lease tenure was completed in 2008.

Since then it was not leased to any one due to political reasons. Consequently the pond is

now lying fallow and fully weed choked.

Being secretary of the Youth Club and educated up to 7th class, he was maintaining all

relevant records including expenditure in aquaculture operation, fish production and net

profit from the fish culture by providing supplementary feed. Mr. Behera had a decade of

experience in fish farming through community based aquaculture. He has developed

confidence in fish culture and found it as a more profitable occupation than paddy farming.


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Fig.1: A view of horticulture-fish integration

Although he got experience in fish farming and developed confidence in its profitability,

he was not having any pond of his own to do this highly remunerative fish culture occupation

for his livelihood.This was the turning point for Mr Behera. He has foresighted fish culture

as good occupation for his family members or their livelihood. Subsequently he sold his 1.8

ha paddy field @ 12.5 lakh/ha and purchased 0.85 ha under-productive low land area(suitable for pond construction and fish farming) near his village at same rate for constructing

fish pond.

Methods

Pond construction: During summer months of 2010, pond was constructed using JCB

dozer. However, leveling of pond embankments and dressing of slopes were carried out

manually. On the pond embankments one double storyed building was constructed. One

lift point along with one 5 HP diesel water pump was also installed on the pond

embankments near house shed. Pond was constructed in 0.56 ha area leaving 0.29 ha areaof pond embankments. Thus the water area and embankment ratio was 1.9:1 against

recommended water and embankment ratio of 10:1 or 5:1. For pond embankment an

additional area was kept for growing horticultural crops (Fig-1).

Banana: Pond embankments were

properly levelled. To cultivate

banana on the pond embankments

100 pits of about 45 cm diameter

and 45 cm depth were dug out in

two rows in June 2010. Between pitto pit 2-2.5 m distance was

maintained. In each pit two baskets

farm yard manure (compost) was

given. It was exposed to sun for

about 15 days. Then 50 g potash and

50 g grow-more fertilizer was mixed

with the compost in the pits. Banana

suckers of Gaja bantal and Paunsia bantal purchased from local farmers were transplanted

in these prepared pits. Just after transplantation a light watering was facilitated. After the

appearance of new leaves, periodical hoeing and soil dressing was carried out. Each banana

plant was fertilized at the time of hoeing using 50 g grow-more and 50 g potash followed

by irrigation. This was carried out in 3 installments.

Papaya:Papaya seedlings were grown in well prepared land bed on the pond embankment

with intensive management. For transplantation of papaya seedlings about 40x40x40 cm

pits were prepared in three rows on the pond embankments with provision of irrigation

channel in between the rows. In each pit one basket of Farm Yard Manure (FYM), 50 g

potash and 10 g grow-more fertilizers were mixed with soil. It was exposed to sun for 4-5


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Fig.2. Aquaplosion in horticulture-fish integration

Fig.3: Netting of pond in horticulture-fish farming

days. About two-month old papaya seedlings were transplanted in these pits. Periodical

soil dressing of the basal area was done to avoid water logging. After 3 months of

transplantation hoeing was done. A mixture of 50 g potash and 10 g grow-more was applied

per plant after hoeing. Then the plants were irrigated using borewell water. After 7-8 months

of transplantation, the plants came to fruiting.

Other crops on pond embankments:Coconut-100 plants, mango-100 plants, pomegranate-

50 plants., leafy vegetables, cucumber, pumpkin, ridge gourd, ladies finger, Poe, brinjal,

tomato, bean, amaranths etc, were grown from time to time. Details are given in Table-1.

Pond preparation and fish culture operation:Pond bottom was ploughed twice using

tractor. Then it was exposed to sun for a week. A mixture of 3000 kg raw cow dung, 100 kg

single super phosphate, 50kg urea

and 25kg potash was applied

evenly on the ploughed pondbottom. It was again thoroughly

ploughed to mix the manures.

After this it was filled up with

ground water in June, 2010 from

a borewell using 5 HP diesel water

pump. Subsequently during last

week of June rain water was also

added. Abundance of natural fish

food organisms was assessed

before fish seed stocking. Pond

was stocked with the yearlings of

750 Catla- Catla catla (Av. wt. 150g), 250 Rohu- Labeo rohita (Av. wt. 100g), 250 Mrigal-

Cirrhinus mrigala (Av. wt. 100g) and 25 Grass carp-Ctenopharyngodon idella(Av.wt.200g) in

last week of June. Later, in the

month of August fry of 4000

Catla (Av. wt. 0.5g), 300 Rohu

(0.05g), 300 Mrigal (Av. wt.

0.05g) and 1000 Grass carp (Av.

wt.3g) were stocked. Fisheswere fed with a mixture of 25

kg beaten rice bran and 2 kg

ground nut oil cake (GNOC)

daily in feeding bags. Besides,

terrestrial grasses, banana

leaves as well as rotten and

small papaya fruits were cut

into pieces and fed to grass


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Fig.4: Segregation of marketable fish

Fig.5: Release of smaller fish back into pond

carp. Over 200 bamboo poles were fixed in pond in zigzag form to avoid fish poaching and

provide adequate surface area for epiphyte production. For sustained production of natural

fish food organisms a mixture of liquid maure was applied fortnightly. Periodical checking

of fish growth and health was carried out (Fig. 2 & 3). Large size fish were harvested (Fig.

4) periodically leaving smaller ones to grow further in the pond (Fig. 5). Fish were stockedin a small adjoining pond for marketing in live condition (Fig. 6).

Results and discussion

Although different varieties of the horticultural crops were grown on the pond

embankments, banana and papaya were found most productive and income fetching (Table-

1). Banana crops were grown in two rows on the pond embankments. From January (7

months after transplantation) onwards banana started fruiting. It took another 3-4 month

to get marketable matured banana bunch. Thus banana was harvested during March-April,

2011 with the production of 100bunches, which was sold @ Rs.150-

200/bunch at production site. Till

date farmer earned Rs.20,000/- from

banana crops. Standing crop of

banana is also available on the pond

embankments. During June-July

2011 a total of 2500 banana saplings

were sold @ Rs.7/sapling fetching

gross income of Rs.17500/- against

an expenditure of Rs.1000/-only.

Chopped banana leaves and tender

stems were used as feed for grass

carp.

Papaya seedlings were planted in three

rows and between the rows there was

provision of irrigation channel. A total

of 300 papaya plants were found in

fruiting condition on pondembankments. Till November 2011, over

34300 kg of papaya was harvested and

sold @ Rs.10/kg at pond site. Which

valued Rs. 3,43,000/- against an

expenditure of only Rs. 50,000/-

Among vegetable crops Bitter gourd

(Karaila) was found more profitable on


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Fig.6: Stocking of marketable fish in a small pond

the embankments of newly constructed pond. Its crop was grown in 100 clusters. From

September, 2010 to April, 2011 a total of 1370 kg bitter gourd was harvested with the market

price of about Rs.20,250/- against an expenditure of Rs.10,000/-. Other vegetable crops

produced on the pond embankments were Cucumber, Cucurbit (Kakharu), Brinjal,

Tomato, Ladyfinger, Ridgegourd (Jahni), Bean, Cowpea (Jhuranga), Chilies, Poi (climbingspinach) and leafy vegetables. Though the maximum vegetable production was

consumed by the family members of the farmer, its production and estimated market

price is given in the Table-1.

By utilizing about 0.29 ha pond embankments, farmer could make a net profit of Rs. 328,761

against an expenditure of Rs.92,289. The percentage net returns on the expenditure was

computed to 356% with the profitability index of 3.56 and cost benefit ratio of 0.28. This

suggests that production of horticultural crops on the embankments of newly constructed

ponds is most suitable and profitable venture.

Farmer stocked the newly constructed

pond @ 21920 /ha with different sized fish

seeds in two batches. First batch was

stocked with 100-200 g yearlings @ 2277/

ha, while second batch with 0.05-3.0 g

early fingerlings @ 19643/ha. Yearlings

grew faster with average weight range of

1.2-2.8 kg and the recovery was also

higher (84-96%), whereas, early fingerling

stocking resulted poor recovery (50-80%)and growth (0.251-0.80 kg). Stocking and

harvesting details of fish from the pond is

given in Table-2. Total fish yield was 3899

kg/0.56 ha/yr (6963.66 kg/ha/yr), which

was much higher than the National

average fish production (2600 kg/ha/yr)

of the country. The production

contribution of Rohu, Catla, Mrigal and Grass carp was 21.36; 52.77, 18.07 and 7.80%

respectively. Catla contributed highest probably due to highest stocking density (38.69%)

and fast growth.

Fish were sold in live condition at farm site. Farmer had a small pond adjacent to culture

pond. From culture pond marketable sized fish were segregated (Fig.4) by netting in the

evening hours and stocked in adjoining small pond (Fig.6). From where fish were hauled

and transported to Bhubaneswar market in live condition by the middle man and was sold

@ Rs.120-150/kg depending upon size and market demand. However, farmer could get

Rs.100/kg by selling to the middle man at pond site. Item wise operation cost is given in

Table-3. Pond rental, pond preparation, manure and fertilizer, feed cost, fish seed cost,


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Fig.8: A smile of success

manpower, miscellaneous expenditure and interest on working

capital constituted 19, 1, 12, 5, 31, 19, 6 and 7 % of the total

working capitals respectively (Fig.7) Though feed cost and

manpower contributed together 50%, the maximum feeds, a

mixture of paddy powder and beaten rice bran, was suppliedfrom his own mill and maximum labor work was carried out

by his family members. From fish culture operation farmer made

a net profit of Rs.128015/-. Percentage net return (48.88%) and

profitability index (0.49) was relatively poor probably due to

less productivity of newly constructed pond. However, it was

compensated with the production of horticulture crops in an

integrated manner on the pond embankments. Thus the

cumulative net profit was Rs.537384/ha/yr with net return of

147.74% and C: B ratio of 0.68. This indicated horticulture-fishfarming integration as a high profitable practice in newly constructed ponds and this has

brought smile on the farmer's face (Fig.8).

Table-1: Horticultural crop production and income generation in 0.29 ha pond embankmentsarea at Village Jasuapur, Satsankha in Pipili block of district Puri


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Table 3: Economics of food fish production at Village Jasuapur, Satsankha in Pipili block ofdistrict Puri

A. Operational cost

Table 2: Stocking and harvesting details of composite fish culture in 0.56 ha at VillageJasuapur, Satsankha in Pipili block of district Puri

* Number given in parenthesis is yearlings and below it is fingerling


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Factors contributing to success

Farmer acquired an adequate experience

in fish farming through his active

participation in community based fish

culture in leased ponds. During this

period he developed confidence in the

economic profitability of fish farming.

Received financial support from the State

Bank of India and technical support from

horticulture department and State

fisheries department and Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture.

Availability of quality soil for construction of farm and the pond where water table

was at upper strata resulting in profuse water in his borewell.

Farmer is very cordial and co-operative and maintained strong linkages with the

Government and private organizations, marketing agents of the farm produce.

Farmer has his own rice mill and beaten rice mill from where he supplied fresh fish

food particularly a mixture of paddy powder and beaten rice bran.

Approach road to his farm was good for easy transport of input and farm produce

supply.

Innovation in technologies/management practices/knowledge and skill

During culture period a mixture of liquid manure (100 kg cow dung + 25 kg singlesuper phosphate + 20 kg potash + 8 kg di-ammonium phosphate + 5 kg urea) was

applied fortnightly into pond to maintain sustained production of natural fish food

organisms.

Farmer has his own rice and beaten rice mill. Poor quality paddy and beaten rice bran

from the mill were mixed together and ground into powder form. About 8% ground

nut oil cake was added with it and soaked in water. It was fed to fish in perforated

feeding bags.

B. Gross return and net profit


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To prevent fish poaching, farmer fixed over 200 bamboo poles in zigzag form in 0.56

ha water area.

Green leaves and tender stems of banana were chopped and applied into pond for

grass carp feed. It also maintains suitable water pH and helpful in preventing fishsuffocation during oxygen depletion.

Rotten ripe papaya fruits were thrown into pond after cutting into pieces. Grass carp

prefer to consume it. While harvesting raw papaya fruits for marketing, some immature

smaller papaya were left over and not accepted for sale. These unmarketable raw

fruits were cut in pieces and thrown into pond which was consumed by grass carps.

Along with raw papaya fruits, papaya latex also enters into pond water which acts as

antibacterial and antifungal agent and thereby prevents disease outbreak in fish.

In newly dug out pond productivity, fish growth and yield are adversely affected for

2-3 years. To compensate the poor return from newly constructed ponds, farmer

judiciously utilized pond embankments for horticulture crop production intensively.

Constraints faced

In newly constructed pond fish growth was found to be poor.

Due to unawareness in initial condition farmer stocked the pond with carp seed in

high density which also caused poor growth rate of fish.

Unawareness in balance fish feed and its feeding methods.

Since pond was located between paddy field there was problem of otters, which are

fish eaters.

There was problem of fish poaching due to social rivalries.

Lessons learnt

Having long experience in community based fish culture in leased ponds, farmer

developed confidence in the economic profitability of fish farming. After expiry of

lease period, farmer took keen interest to construct his own pond to continue this

highly remunerative aquaculture business. The newly constructed pond was found most appropriate for integrating aquaculture

with horticulture. Since in newly constructed pond fish do not grow as fast as in case

of old pond, profitability remains poor initially if fish farming is carried out alone.

However, production of horticulture crops on the pond embankments during this

period made it highly profitable farming system.


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Mass spawn production through multiple carp breeding

and carp seed rearing in succession using

sub-leased village community ponds

Radheyshyam, Tarun Shyam* and G.S.Saha

Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture

Kausayalganga, Bhubaneswar-751002, India

*KIIT University, Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar

Introduction

Increasing unemployment problem of undereducated rural youths compels them to search

alternative occupation for their livelihood. Many of them can not complete their desired

education level due to certain unavoidable circumstances. Under such condition they are

unable to get permanent job neither in government nor in private sectors. However, some

of them in order to generate family income do experimentation by altering their occupation

and in due course of time they get stable job option in rural sectors for livelihood. Several

such undereducated rural youths have been transformed by themselves into entrepreneurs

through adopting resource-specific need-based alternative remunerative occupations at

sustainable level. Each one has different story to tell. Mr. Rajendra Kumar Paswan of village

Mohanapur, P.O: Peeperpati, Block- Partawal, District Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh state

is one of such farmers who has been transformed from a rural farmer to entrepreneurial

fish farmer. Present success story of Mr. Paswan is dealt in two parts. Part-I covers massspawn production through multiple carp breeding using own infrastructure (brood stock

ponds and hatchery complex). Part-II describes commercial production of fry, fingerlings,

yearlings and food fish in succession using sub-leased village community ponds. Detail

management practices and economic profitability in both the parts of success story have

been highlighted in present communication. This case study will not only provide

inspiration to local farmers to ensure fish seed production for the ease of access to rural

fish farmers in order to develop rural aquaculture, but also be helpful in self employment,

income generation, improvement of food and nutritional security of rural poor.


Sri Rajendra Kumar Paswan is a 49 years old fish farmer. He has 28 years experience in the

field of aquaculture. After his intermediate qualification he was selling pumping sets and

its spare parts for additional family income, though his main occupation was agriculture

at initial condition. He was in possession of 2.5 ha agricultural land. However, for increasing

his family income he took about 1 ha Gram Panchayat pond (village community pond) on

lease @ Rs.850/yr in 1983. The lease tenure of the GP pond was 10 years. He took keen

interest in fish culture and found it a remunerative occupation. Mean while he met with


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an agriculture development officer of Punjab National Bank in 1985. Who advised him to

concentrate in fish culture by creating own ponds for sustained income generation. Through

his motivation Mr. Paswan borrowed Rs.18500/- from bank with the provision of 25%

subsidy under Fish Farmers Development Agencies (FFDA). He constructed 5 ponds of

1.5 hectare (0.06 - 0.8 ha) utilizing his under productive low land. He started seed rearingactivity in these ponds by purchasing carp seed from the West Bengal through middlemen.

In spite of fish seed import from West Bengal at relatively elevated price, the profitability

in fish seed rearing was found to be very high in relation to other agriculture crops.

However, he was not able to get desired quality and quantity of carp seed in time at demand.

Then he took interest to produce carp spawn in his village. For this he approached Fishery

Extension Officer (FEO) of Gorakhpur, UP fisheries to learn techniques of Pituitary Gland

(PG) collection, PG extract preparation, brood stock management, hormone injecting

procedure, hapa breeding operation etc. After learning the techniques he started hapa

breeding of Rahu- Labeo rohita, Mrigal- Cirrhinus mrigalaand Bhakur- Catla catla.However,from hapa breeding spawn recovery was 25-30% of the fertilized egg due to various physico-

chemical and biological constraints.

He was very much interested to increase spawn recovery from the fertilized eggs. For that

in 1988 he went to BhairahawanThuthipeepal carp hatchery. He stayed there over one

week for practical learning of carp breeding technology including fish stripping method,

circular carp hatchery management, scientific fish seed rearing etc. Then he started breeding

of Silver carp-Hypophthalmichthys molitrix and Grass carp- Ctenopharyngodon idella and

standardized the Pituitary Gland (PG) dosage for the region. After seeing the profitability

performance of circular hatchery at Thuthipeepal carp hatchery, Bhairahawan, heconstructed a circular carp hatchery in 1989 at small scale. He made it operational in 1990.

By 1992 he developed confidence in each technique of carp breeding including brood stock

management, breeding operation, hatchery operation, multiple breeding of Grass carp,

Silver carp, Rohu, Catla and Mrigal, spawn to fry rearing and fry to fingerling rearing

technologies etc. He was continuing his aquaculture business progressively. But in 1995

there was total loss of brood fish stock due to poisoning. However, in 1996 he could develop

brood stock and started breeding work. When fish seed demand increased in the region,

he further expanded his hatchery infrastructure by constructing one spawning pool, 4

incubation pools, one collection chamber and one overhead tank to produce carp seed at

commercial scale during 2000. After seeing his progress there was jealousy and social

rivalry in the locality. This resulted brood stock kills by poisoning in the month of June,

2000. Subsequently, during 2001 there was severe flood and all ponds were inundated.

Most of the brood fish and fish seed were escaped away in flood water. These limiting

factors, could not suppress the intrinsic power of willingness of farmer to continue his

ruminative profession of multiple breeding of carps, fish seed rearing and food fish

production at commercial level utilizing his own ponds and sub-leased village community

fish ponds.


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Methods

Brood stock management : Brood stock management was carried out in two ponds

covering about one ha water area. Ponds were dewatered to eradicate weed and predatory

fishes. At times, farmer killed fishes by applying celphos (Aluminium phosphide) in pond

water. When ponds were

dewatered, pond bottom

was treated with lime @

400-500kg/ha. Then it was

exposed to sun for a week.

After that mixed fertilizer

(per hectare 3000kg cow

dung +125 kg single super

p h o s p h a t e + 5 0 k g

urea+50kg muriate of

potash) was applied to

increase pond

productivity. Immediately

ponds were filled with

borewell water. After 15

days, about 500 g potassium permanganate was applied as disinfectant. In prepared ponds

2-3 years old matured fish were stocked @ 2-3 tonnes/ha for intensive care. For feeding

brood fish a mixture of cooked broken rice and mustard oil cake in the ratio of 2:1 was

used. In this food 10% broken pulse and 1% mineral mixed was also added. Farm prepared

feed was provided @ 2-3% of the standing stock of brood fish daily depending upon

abundance of natural fish food organisms and water quality. However, before 30-50 minutes

of concentrate feed application, grass carp were fed with Berseem grass ad libitum 2-3

times daily. During off season of Berseem grass, Sudan grass was fed to Grass carp. Brood

fish pond water was exchanged quarterly once. Ground water was added daily to maintain

optimum water depth and lower pond water temperature during summer and to increase

pond water temperature during winter season. Fortnightly sample netting was carried

out (Fig.1) and 750g/ha potassium permanganate was applied in pond water for

prophylactic treatment. Farmer reported that application of glaxo made zeolite @ 75-150kg/ha reduced the obnoxious gases from the pond and stop fish suffocation. Argulus

control was carried out by using cypermethrin (clinar), whereas Epizootic Ulcerative

Disease Syndrome (EUDS) was controlled by applying CIFAX @ 1 liter/ha m.

Hatchery infrastructure : Farmer constructed one overhead tank of 13'6"x17'6" for storing

ground water to provide running water facility in spawning pool and incubation pools.

There was only one spawning pool of 20' diameter and 5'deep. During breeding operation

water depth was maintained at 3' only. Farmer constructed four incubation pools (Fig.2)

Fig.1: A haul of brood fish at Mohanapur


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each with 10' 6" diameter from outer

periphery. It has 9" wide outer wall

and 9" inner ring wall. Central ring

diameter was of 6'5". Thus only 2'4"

area was left for egg incubation in

circulating water. Although the pool

was 4' deep, but during operation

only 3' deep water was kept. In one

operation about 300 liter carp

fertilized eggs were released for

incubation with the production of

15-21 liter spawn per pool. Breeding

and incubation pools were

connected with central collectionchamber.

Breeding and spawn production

Breeding and spawn production of Cyprinus carpio : Breeding of common carp

commenced from 2ndweek of January. Fish were induced by administering PG extract. At

low water temperature of 10-150 C common carp females were administered with higher

doses of PG extract. (1st dosage @2mg PG/kg, 2nd dosage @14-15 mg/kg), whereas, at

above 200 C water temperature low dosages (1st dosage @ 1mg PG/kg, 2nd dosage @5-6

mg/kg) was administered. Spawning was carried out by stripping method. Females were

stripped in dry container followed by male. The eggs and milt was mixed gently usingbird feather. Then the fertilized eggs were kept in a solution of tanic acid, urea and salt in

the ratio of 0.5:10:10. This solution was prepared in 10 liter water by mixing 5g of glaxo

made tanic acid, 100g urea and 100g common salt. The fertilized eggs were washed several

times using this solution. After gradual mixing of normal water the eggs were de-gummed.

In wet stripping method 25 ml water was taken in a series of bowels in which the milt was

stripped in phases. Immediately females were stripped by gentle mixing of eggs using

feather. The milt and egg mixing was continued for one and half minute. Mucus of the

milt started surfacing. It was removed with the help of feather adding normal water

gradually. This was repeated several times in bowels. After two minutes fertilized eggs

were found free from milt mucus. In detached condition fertilized eggs were collected.

These fertilized eggs were quantified in liter and released in incubation pools for hatching.

Multi-breeding of Grass carp : Four times breeding of Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella)

at fish farm of Mr. R.K.Paswan at Mohnapur Village in partawal block of Gorakhpur, U.P. is

depicted diagrammatically in Fig.-3. It is classified in early (Fubruary-March) breeding mid

breeding (April-July) and late breeding (August-September). Detailed methods of four times

spawning separately are as under.

Fig.2: Carp hatchery facility at Mohanapur


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In the month of February Grass carp were fully matured for induced spawning. Every

year induced spawning of Grass carp commenced from the 2ndweek of February. Due to

high demands of Grass carp seed, they were bred 3-4 times in a season during February to

September using same brood fish. In large sized Grass carp brood fish; there was probability

of fat deposition and handling difficulty. To get rid of these problems, brood fish of 3-4 kg

were used for induced spawning.

First breeding: First breeding was carried out during February to March. PG extract was

used as inducing hormone in two split dosages at about 4 hrs intervals. Female were

administered @ 2mg/kg in 1st dosage and 8-9mg/kg in 2nd dosage, while males were

administered once @1-1.5mg/kg at the time of 2nddosage of female.

Second breeding:After completion of first spawning, spent fish were given dip treatment

with potassium permanganate solution. They were stocked at low density in well prepared

separate brood fish pond under intensive care. Fish were fed with a mixture of mustard oil

cake, broken rice, broken pulses with the fortification of 1% mineral mixed in cooked feed.

Farm made fresh fish feed was given @ 2% of the body weight daily once. In addition, they

were fed with tender Berseem grass ad libitum 3-4 times daily. Periodically pond water

Fig.3: Four times spawning of Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) at the hatchery of Mr. R.K.Paswan at

Mohnapur Village of Gorakhpur


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was replaced with ground water. They were treated with potassium permanganate solution

at periodical sample netting. Grass carp brood fish again matured after 40-45 days (during

April-May) of first breeding. PG extract was used as inducing hormone in similar pattern

of 1st breeding.

Third breeding: Spent grass carp brood fish after 2ndspawning were bathed in potassium

permanganate. All the intensive management practices applied during 2ndbreeding were

repeated. Same brood fish matured for spawning after 45-55 days (during June-July) of the

2ndbreeding. Induced spawning was carried out using PG extract at conventional dosage.

Fourth breeding: Grass carp after 3rdbreeding were reared under intensive care. They

attained maturity 4th time for induced spawning after 55-60 days (during August -

September) of 3rd breeding. Only a few selected brood fish are used for 4thbreeding by

inducing with PG extract hormone.

Multiple breeding of Silver carp, Catla, Rohu and Mrigal: Farmers used to breed Silvercarp, Rohu, Catla and Mrigal 2-3 times in one season using same brood fish. While breeding

of Silver carp was carried out from the first week of April, the Rohu, Catla and Mrigal

breeding started from the month of May depending on regional seed demands. As inducing

hormone, PG extract or ovaprim was administered to brood fish. Silver carp brood fish

were administered with PG extract @2mg/kg female body weight in 1st dosage and after

4-5 hrs of 1st dosage @ 8-9 mg/kg in second dosage. Males received @ 1-1.5mg/kg body

weight at the time o

aquaculture success story

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