Soil and Water Characteristics

for Successful Seed Production

Ashutosh Mishra
College of Fisheries
G.B. Pant University of Agriculture &
Technology, Pantnagar
 Importance of soil and water
• High quality water and suitable bottom soil
conditions are essential ingredients for
successful pond seed rearing
• Soil plays an important role in determining
the fertility of fish ponds
• The physico- chemical characteristics of
water are reflection of bottom soil
• soil should not be highly porous and acidic
with high organic content
 Soil characteristics
• The amount of organic matter present in
the bottom is index of its productivity
• Production of various primary food
organisms depends largely on the
availability of different nutrients
• However suitable soil quality problems are
common in aquaculture ponds, and
therefore, many methods are used for the
purpose of improving pond soil
 Physical properties of soil
• Nature of the terrain
• Non rocky with at least 2 m deep good soil
• Slope of the terrain
• Gently sloped or leveled
• Soil texture
• Soil should not be too sandy to allow leaching of the nutrients
or too clayey to keep all the nutrients adsorbed
• Soil fraction should not be less than 90% of the whole
• Soil type
• Heavy clay or clayey loam is good
• Soil temp.
• 20- 30 0C is good for maximum water absorption and
metabolic rate
 Chemical properties of the soil
• pH
• 6.0- 8.0 (6.5- 7.5)
• Total available nitrogen
• 25- 75 mg/ 100g soil
• Total available phosphorus
• 3- 6 mg/ 100 g soil
• Organic carbon
• About 1%
• C/N ratio
• 10- 15 is OK
• Soil should be responsive to organic and
inorganic fertilizers
 Soil humus

• After decay dead organic matter form

humus
• Humus is about 10% dry weight of total
organic matter
• In forest soil it is 125 tones/acre while in
grassland it is 600 tones/ acre
 Soil water
• Rain is the main source
• Help in absorption of mineral salts which
are essential for plant nutrition
• There are gravitational water, capillary
water, hygroscopic water, combined water
• Solard (total amount of water present in
soil), chresard (water absorbed by root
hairs), echard (unavailable to root hairs)
 Soil air
• O2 content is important, helps in the
normal functioning of the plants
• Well aerated soil increases the absorption,
accelerates the growth and developments
of fresh roots, increases the metabolism,
not aerated water logging takes place
 Soil cover

• Anything which cover the soil dead plant

leaves, snow etc.
• Prevent evaporation of water from the soil,
maintain constant temperature of soil,
protect small plants
 Soil fertility
• Nutrient releasing property for the benefit of land
and agriculture crops
• 4 stages
• Nutrient requirement of crops and release from soil
• Status of base as store house for nutrients
• Way of leaching
• Methods of maintaining fertility
• Nutrients are directly required by micro and
macro vegetation and by certain bacteria
• N, P and K very often become deficient
 Water characteristics
• Dependable source of perennials water
should be available to fulfill water
requirement
• Water should be non polluted, responsive
to organic and organic
• Independent water supply in each pond is
better
• The rate of fall in water level in ponds
should be less than 1 m/ anum
Physico- chemical characteristics of
water
• Biological production depends on water
quality which is influenced by bottom soil
• Nutrient status of water and soil play an
important role in governing the planktonic
organisms
• Great changes in the soil quality of man
made lakes due to deposition of organic
matter and silt from
 Water temperature
• Temperature is the most important critical
factor
• It directly influence the life activities and
metabolic processes of organisms
• In directly it changes the dissolved oxygen
level
 Water transparency
• Transparency is inversely proportional to
turbidity (suspended matters)
• Light penetration depends upon the
quantity of suspended particles
• Variation in light penetration causes
changes in plankton production
 Specific conductivity
• Conductivity is measure of total ions
• High ionic concentration during dry season
• It affects the mineralization
• The electrical conductance reflects the
total quantity of dissolved solids
 Total Dissolved Solids
• Directly related with biological production
of plankton
• It increase the conductivity amount
• Serves as a reliable indication of edaphic
characteristics
 Water quality
Parameter Value
TSS < 25 mg/l
pH 6.5- 9
Temperature 20- 30 0C
DO Above 5 mg/ l
Free CO2 < 20 mg/l
NO3-- 0.2- 0.5 mg/l
NO2- < 0.02 mg/l
NH3 0.02- 0.05 mg/l
PO4--- 0.02- 0.2 mg/l
Total alkalinity > 90 mg/l
Silicate > 0.5 mg/l
Calcium 75- 150 mg/l
Magnesium 20- 200 mg/l
N:P:K 18:8:4
Biological productivity Average 20 ml/ m3
 pH
• It determines the solubility and chemical
nature of most substances
• Index of other parameters such as free
CO2, dissolved oxygen, dissolved
nutrients, alkalinity
• Medium values of pH are favourable for
biological production
 Dissolved Oxygen
• Important and limiting factor for maintaining
aquatic life
• It regulates the metabolic processes of aquatic
organisms
• Indicator of environmental conditions affecting
production
• Distribution of DO depends upon thermocline,
density of vegetation and organic matter
 Dissolved Oxygen
• Photosynthesis and atmosphere are
sources of oxygen in aquatic system
• There is marked deficiency of oxygen at
higher temperature
• Factors affecting DO are amount of
organic matter, temperature, bacterial
activity, photosynthesis, diffusion from
atmosphere, heterotrophic respiration etc.
 Free CO2
• Sources are decomposition of organic matters
and respiration living aquatic organisms
• Needed to buffer the environment against rapid
shifts in acidity- alkalinity states
• Also operate the regulation of biological
processes in aquatic communities
• Used by plant organisms in the formation of
organic carbon
 Free CO2
• Use of free CO2 results in an increase in
carbonate and hydroxyl ions
• Decomposition of organic sediments is
associated with accumulation of CO2,
reduced pH and increase in bicarbonate
 Alkalinity
• Capacity to neutralize the acids shifting
the pH value towards the alkaline side
• Main contributors are bicarbonate,
carbonate and hydroxide
• Bicarbonate ions provide CO2 to
autotrophs for photosynthesis
 Suspended solids
• Indirectly affect the fish growth by reducing
the food availability
• Harmful to the zooplankton (clog the filter
feeding apparatus and digestive system
• Micro-organisms oxidises the organic
solids which reduce the DO level
• Reduction in feeding due to reduced
visibility
 Calcium and magnesium
• React with carbonate and bicarbonate to
cause temporary hardness
• Calcium is an important constituent of cell
wall of plant organisms
• Magnesium is the component of
chlorophyll
• Both are essential for phytoplankton
growth
 Potassium
• It is an important cation for the growth of
the plant organisms
• Remains mostly in solution form
• Soil and potassium fertilizers are the
source of potassium in aquatic system
 Nitrogen
• Essentially required by all living organisms,
being a necessary element of biochemical
substances
• Essential for the growth of all aquatic organisms
• Inputs are erosion of soil, urban drainage,
nitrogen fixation and decomposition of organic
matter
• Removed as nitrate by phytoplankton and
macrophytes
 Phosphorus
• Least abundant but most commonly limits
the biological productivity
• It limits the metabolic processes in
temperate waters
• Massive biological uptake of phosphorus
occurs during the growth of phytoplankton
• Produced from apatite rocks and utilised
directly by plant organisms
 Silicate
• It is an important nutrient for the growth of
the diatoms
• In natural waters it is more abundant than
other elements
• Produced from silicate rocks and utilised
mainly by the diatoms
 Chloride
• Occurs in all type of waters but low in
freshwaters
• Source is discharge of sewage
• Gives salty taste to the water
• When calcium and magnesium are
present in sufficient quantity, salty taste
may be absent
 Management practices
• Productivity depends upon biogenic capacity to
transform solar energy into chemical energy
• Vertical and horizontal distribution of chemical
constituents of water acts as a reliable index of
productivity
• The energy fixed at primary producer level
passes through trophic chain and fraction of it
ends up as fish flesh
 Management practices
• The commercial fish species should share
ecological niches in such a way that
trophic resources are utilized to optimum
• The fishes should be of short food chain to
obtain maximum efficiency in converting
primary food resources into harvestable
materials
 Conclusion
• Inland water bodies have great potential for fish
and fish seed production
• There is low fish yield due to total lack of
understanding the physico- chemical nature of
ecosystem and factors responsible for
increasing biological production
• The biological productivity of inland waters
depends mainly on climatic, edaphic and
morphometric factors