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Small-scale family pond aquaculture for rural household nutrition

Malnutrition especially to the children and women in the rural populations has been the major issues to be addressed since long time in Nepal. Promotion of small-scale family pond aquaculture can be the one of the way to overcome this problem in rural Nepal. Several small grant projects were conducted in selected villages of Chitwan, Nawalparasi, Lamjung and Gorkha with a family pond concept (one household one pond) during the period of 2000–2012. Project initiated with carp polyculture and moved to pond dike vegetable farming then carp-small indigenous fish species polyculture with pond dike farming with the prime emphasis on household nutrition and if surplus sale for supplemental income. Project results have shown that household ponds are mostly managed by family woman and about 50% fish are consumed in family. Incorporation of small indigenous fish which are eaten whole and have very high nutritional value with high vitamins and micro-nutrients have increased household consumption of those species. We assume increase in fish consumption has improved nutrition to woman and children of the project areas. However, it needs assessment to measure improvement in nutrition.

Key words: rural poor, family pond-aquaculture, malnutrition, children and woman nutrition

ABSTRACT

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

• Selection of technically feasible sites – villages;

• Identification of appropriate rural society

• Formation of homogenous fish farmers groups;

• Registration of these groups with District Agriculture Development Office;

• Involvement of household heads (both male and female) in training and

other activities;

• Providing technical and input support for one culture cycle;

• Organizing regular monthly meetings of fish farmers’ groups to discuss on-

going and up-coming activities with an emphasis on household women;

• Establishment of fish farmer’s cooperative and its registration with District

Cooperative Office.

• Awareness on role of SIS in nutrition – Vitamins and micronutrients:

Table 1: Vitamin and micro-nutrient contents in small indigenous fish species and carps (Roos et al., 2006)

RAE = retinol activity equivalents

• Species Selection and identification:

Puntius sophore (Pothi)

Esomus denricus (Deduwa)

Amblypharyngogodon mola (Mara / Dhawai)

OUTCOME CONCLUSIONS• Small-scale family pond aquaculture is an effective tool for food security,

household nutrition and supplemental income for rural poor.• 25-50% produced fish (carps) were used for household consumption.• Nutrient dense SIS were consumed regularly in family.• Family pond aquaculture helped to empower women through women fish

cooperative.• Application of this strategy is likely to benefit a large number of resource

poor small-scale households.

REFERENCESBhujel R.C., M.K. Shrestha, J. Pant and S. Buranrom (2008). Ethnic women in aquaculture in Nepal. Development, 51: 259-264.

Gupta, M. C. 2011. Comparision of performance of Dedhuwa (Esomus danricus), Mara (Amblypharyagodon mola) and Pothi (Puntius sophore) in carp-prawn polyculture ponds in Chitwan, Nepal. MSc Thesis. Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal. 24-44 pp.

Pant, J., M.K. Shrestha, R.C. Bhujel. 2012. Aquaculture and resilience: Women in aquaculture in Nepal. In: Shrestha, M.K. and J. Pant (eds.) Small-scale Aquaculture for Rural Livelihoods: Proceedings of the National Symposium on Small-scale Aquaculture for Increasing Resilience of Rural Livelihoods in Nepal. 19-24 pp.

Pandey,R.P., L.A. Colavito, S. Khatiwada. 2012. Small-scale fish farming in Mid- and Far-western Regions of Nepal. In: Shrestha, M.K. and J. Pant (eds.) Small-scale Aquaculture for Rural Livelihoods: Proceedings of the National Symposium on Small-scale Aquaculture for Increasing Resilience of Rural Livelihoods in Nepal.. 53-59 pp.

Rai, S., S.H.Thilsted. M.K.Shrestha, MD A. Wahab and K.Gharti. 2012. Gender in aquaculture and fisheries moving the agenda forward. The Journal of the Asian Fisheries Society Special Issue (2012):218-223.

Roos, N., M. A. Wahab., C. Chamman and S.H. Thilsted. 2006. Understanding the links between agriculture and health. International Food Policy Research Institute. pp. 44-49.

Shrestha, M.K., J. Pant, R.C. Bhujel. 2012. Small-scale aquaculture development model for rural Nepal. In: Shrestha, M.K. and J. Pant (eds.) Small-scale Aquaculture for Rural Livelihoods: Proceedings of the National Symposium on Small-scale Aquaculture for Increasing Resilience of Rural Livelihoods in Nepal.

Yadav, S. 2011. Production potential of Carp-SIS-Prawn polyculture in Chitwan, Nepal. MSc Thesis. Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal. 22-38 pp.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSProject funding were - Women in Aquaculture Project by German NGO; Community Fish production Project by Canadian Cooperation Office; Small-scale mid hills project by Aquaculture without Frontier (AwF UK); Small indigenous fish species (SIS) project by DANIDA.

Collaborating partners were – Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand; Bangladesh Agricultural University, Bangladesh; Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Nepal; Local NGO – Rural Integrated Development Society, Kathar.

Agriculture and Forestry University, Nepal and AquaFish Innovation Lab supported to participate this workshop.

Aquaculture in Nepal expanded and developed during the decade of nineties with aquaculture development projects. However, this project supported only large/bigger farmers with bigger size ponds and small-scale farmers were excluded. Though the production of fish increased in country, it did not contribute to improve the nutritional status of the rural poor family. Malnutrition especially to the children and women in the rural populations has been the major problems due to lack of nutritious food in regular diet. Promotion of small-scale family pond aquaculture wherever possible could be the one of the way to overcome this problem in rural Nepal. Small-scale family pond aquaculture has increased household fish consumption improving nutrition and income of a family and in women empowerment (Bhujel et al., 2008; Pant et al., 2012; Shrestha et al., 2012, Pandey et al., 2012. The small indigenous fishes (SIS), which are usually eaten whole with the organs and bones, contain large amounts of minerals like calcium, phosphorus, iron, iodine, zinc, etc. and vitamin-A and vitamin-D. The carp species promoted in current aquaculture do not contribute significantly to mineral intake. Unlike large fish, SIS is eaten whole, without loss of nutrients from cleaning or as plate waste. The bones of SIS are very rich in calcium. Likewise, the eyes, head, organs and viscera of some SIS, such as Puntius (Pothi), Esomus (Deduwa) and Amblypharyngodon (Mara/Dhawai) are rich in vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin A, iron and zinc (Roos et al., 2006). These nutrients in fish are found to be highly bio-available. Moreover, SIS are self-recruiting and therefore can be harvested weekly and fortnightly, favoring household consumption. Most of the Nepalese farmers have been consuming SIS fish by harvesting from the rivers, lake and swamp areas. However, over fishing and deterioration of natural habitats have resulted in a decline in SIS. Inclusion of SIS in carp ponds increases production, profit and household consumption as compared to normal carp culture, (Gupta, 2011; Yadav, 2011; Rai et al., 2012).

Therefore, small-scale family pond aquaculture in rural areas wherever possible may help to improve nutrition and food security in children and women of the household.

Fish Species Vitamin A(RAE/100 g cleaned &

edible part)

Calcium(RAE/100 g cleaned &

edible part)

Iron(RAE/100 g cleaned &

edible part)Esomus denricus (Deduwa)

880 775 12

Amblypharyngodon mola (Mara/Dhawai)

2680 776 5.7

Puntius sophore(Pothi/Sidhre)

60 784 3.0

Hypophthalmichthys molitrix(Silver carp)

< 30 36 4.4

Cirrhinus mrigala(Naini/ Mrigal)

< 30 < 10 2.5

Aquaculture and Fisheries Department, Agriculture and Forestry University, Nepal

Madhav K Shrestha and Sunila Rai

BACKGROUND

IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS

Family pond (100-200 m2)

Culture of Carps + SIS

Regular partial harvesting of SIS (weekly/Fortnightly)

Household consumption

Harvest of large carps

Surplus Sale & income

Improvement in nutrition of Children

& Women

Particulars values

Pond constructed (No.)Pond size (m2)Total area (m2)Total Fish production (kg)Mean fish productivity (ton/ha)Production range (kg/pond)Total home consumption (kg)Consumption range (kg/household)Total Fish sales (kg)Sales range (kg/household)Total supplemental income (NRs)Suppl. income range (NRs/household)

2160 – 395

368310962.98

28.5 - 97436

10 – 45660

9 – 6753,455

630 - 6030

Table 2. Outcome of Women in Aquaculture project phase I (2000-2002) Chitwan.

Table 3. Outcome of Women in Aquaculture project phase II (2002-2004) Chitwan and Nawalparasi.

Parameter Kathar, Chitwan

Kawasoti,Nawalparasi

Total

Total pond constructed (No.)Pond size (m2)Total pond area (m2)Total fish production (kg)Mean fish productivity (ton/ha)Production range (kg/pond)Total home consumption (kg)Consumption range (kg/HH)Total fish sales (kg)Sales range (kg/HH)Total suppl. income (NRs)Suppl. Income range (NRs/HH)

5750-398817327123.3

5-2058205-4018920-180

227,0400-21,600

3030-13526675342.0

7-35166

1–153685-25

44,140600-3,000

7730-3981084032462.99

5-2059861-4022600-180

271,2000-21,600

Parameter Kathar, Chitwan

Kawasoti,Nawalparasi

Total

Total pond constructed (No.)Pond size (m2)Total pond area (m2)Total fish production (kg)Mean fish productivity (ton/ha)Production range (kg/pond)Total home consumption (kg)Consumption range (kg/HH)Total fish sales (kg)Sales range (kg/HH)Total suppl. income (NRs)Suppl. Income range (NRs/HH)

3363-696741925573.45

20-34012584-13513005-205

156,000600-24,000

2840-25532427622.35

12-902273-235364-67

64,320480-8,040

6140-6961066133193.11

12-34014853-13518364-205

220,320480-24,600

Table 4. Outcome of Community fish production project phase III (2004-2007) Chitwan and Nawalparasi.

Table 5. Outcome of Aquaculture without Frontier (AwF) project (2008-2010) Lamjung and Gorkha.

Description/particulars FiguresPonds (no.) 70Area of ponds (sq. m.) 3,112 No. of families 70

Primary School 1Direct beneficiaries (no.) 300Total fish prod (kg) 634

Consumption (kg) 504 80%Sale (kg) 130 20%

Table 6. Outcome of Carp-SIS (DANIDA) project (2010-2012) Chitwan

Species combination Mean NFY (mt/ha/yr) Increment (%)

Carps only 3.3

Carps + SIS 4.0 17.5%