Integrated Fish Farming

Integrated Fish Farming

 Definition: when fish culture is practiced along with other systems of crop or animal
production, it is referred to as “Integrated Farming”.

 This type of farming offers great efficiency in resource utilization, as waste or byproduct
from one system is effectively recycled. It also enables effective utilization of available
farming space for maximizing production.

 The basic principles involved in integrated farming are the utilization of the
synergetic effects of the inter-related farm activities and the conservation,
including full utilization of farm wastes.

 It has been an ancient practice in China and the immigrant Chinese introduced it into
various parts of the World.

 Fish culture in combination with agriculture or livestock is a unique and lucrative

venture and provides a higher farm income, makes available a cheap source of protein
for the rural population, increases productivity on small land-holdings and increases the
supply of feeds for the farm livestock.
Bengal Science Congress
 Scope of Integrated Fish Farming

 The scope of integrated farming is considerably wide.

 Ducks and geese are raised in pond, and pond-dykes are used for
horticultural and agricultural crop products and animal rearing.

 The system provides meat, milk, eggs, fruits, vegetables,

mushroom, fodder and grains, in addition to fish.

 Hence this system provides better production, provides more

employment, and improves socio-economic status of farmers and
betterment of rural economy.
 Classification of
Integrated Fish Farming

 Integrated fish farming can be broadly classified into two, namely:

Agriculture-fish and Livestock-fish systems.

 Fish cum agriculture  Fish cum Animal System

System
1. Fish cum Paddy Culture 1. Fish cum Diary
2. Fish cum water chestnut 2. Fish cum Pig Farming
3. Fish cum Pappaya 3. Fish cum Rabbit Farming
4. Fish cum Mulberry 4. Fish cum Poultry
5. Fish cum Mushroom 5. Fish cum Duck Farming
Fishes in IFF
 Hypothalmichthys molitrix (silver carp)
 Ctenopharyngodon idella (grass carp)
 Labeo rohita (rohu)
 Cirrihinus mrigala (mrigal)
 Cyprinus carpio (common carp)
 Catla catla (catla)
 Duck-Fish Integrated System

 Duck-fish integration is the most common integration in China,

Hungary, Germany, Poland, Russia and some parts of India.
 A fish-pond being a semi-closed biological system with several
aquatic animals and plants, provide excellent disease-free
environment for ducks. In return ducks consume juvenile frogs,
tadpoles and dragonfly, thus making a safe environment for fish.
 Duck dropping goes directly in pond, which in turn provide
essential nutrients to stimulate growth of natural food.
 This has two advantages, there is no loss of energy and
fertilization is homogeneous.
 This integrated farming has been followed in West Bengal,
Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa,
Tripura and Karnataka. Most commonly used breed for this
system in India is the ‘Indian runners’.
Benefits of fish cum duck farming
 Water surface of ponds can be put into full utilization by duck raising.
 Fish ponds provide an excellent environment to ducks which prevent
them from infection of parasites.
 Ducks feed on predators and help the fingerlings to grow.
 Duck raising in fish ponds reduces the demand for protein to 2 – 3 %
in duck feeds.
 Duck droppings go directly into water providing essential nutrients to
increase the biomass of natural food organisms.
 The daily waste of duck feed (about 20 - 30 gm/duck) serves as fish
feed in ponds or as manure, resulting in higher fish yield.
 Manuring is conducted by ducks and homogeneously distributed
without any heaping of duck droppings.
 By virtue of the digging action of ducks in search of benthos, the
nutritional elements of soil get diffused in water and promote
plankton production.
 Ducks serve as bio aerators as they swim, play and
chase in the pond. This disturbance to the surface of the
pond facilitates aeration.
 The feed efficiency and body weight of ducks increase
and the spilt feeds could be utilized by fish.
 Survival of ducks raised in fish ponds increases by 3.5 %
due to the clean environment of fish ponds.
 Duck droppings and the left over feed of each duck can
increase the output of fish to 37.5 Kg/ha.
 Ducks keep aquatic plants in check.
 No additional land is required for duckery activities.
 It results in high production of fish, duck eggs and duck
meat in unit time and water area.
 It ensures high profit through less investment.
 The duck-fish-farming is done in 2 phases
 1st Phase- Raising of Ducks

a) Extensive raising:
• usually employed in Europe
• 150-500 ducks are held per hectare
• Very small amount of supplementary duck feed is provided.
• The contribution of amount of manure is also limited

a) Intensive raising:
• Usually employed in Africa
• Duck stocking : 1000-2500/ha
• Higher amount of manure and duck feed are loaded into the
fish pond
• So higher yields can be obtain
There are two basic ways to keep ducks on the fish pond
1.To allow ducks to have free access to the whole pond area.
2.To confine ducks to some enclosure.

In both ways yield of fish is almost equal.

Breeder Ducks :
6-7 month old
Breeders are fed upon protein(14-15%) rich diet, kept in
suitable drinking water And temperature.
They fed @ 9-10% of the body weight i.e. about 240-
300g/day
Female lay 120-140 eggs/yr
Incubation period : 28 days
One day old ducklings kept at 30-32 C and reared for 14-
20 days fed on pellet starter feed and luke warm water.
They are released into pond at the age of 14-20 days
2nd Phase – Raising of Fish
 We use barrage type of ponds
 Main species cultured are
Common Carp (1000-1200 kg/ha yield)
Chinese Carp (500-600 kg/ha yield)

Beside these hybrid Tilapia (T.nilotica

male and T. mossambica female) and
grey mullet are also raised.
Economic Analysis of Fish Duck Integration
Water spread area : 0.6 Ha
Duration : 1 Year
Pond Characteristic : Existing pond

Sr. No. Particular Quantity & Rate Cost (Rs)

A. Capital Cost : Duck house (L.S.) 5000.00
B. Recurring Cost
i)Dewatering, repairing, renovation of mud and 24 kg @ Rs. 30.00/kg 3000.00
bamboo fencing (L.S.) 32Kg @Rs. 15.00/Kg 720.00
ii)Bleaching power (Control of predators) 16Kg @Rs. 10.00/Kg 480.00
iii)Quick lime 1600kg @Rs. 0.12/Kg 160.00
iv)Basal manuring 16 Kg @Rs. 6.00/Kg 192.00
Mustard oil cake 16 Kg @ Rs. 6.00/Kg 96.00
Raw cowdung 1300 Nos @Rs. 2.00/No. 96.00
Urea 40 Nos @ Rs. 20.00/ducking 2600.00
Single Super Phosphate 42 kg @Rs. 15.00/kg 800.00
i)Cost of Fingerlings (7-10cm) 800 Kg @Rs. 12.00/kg 640.00
ii)Cost of 30 days old duckling 9600.00
iii) Liming at 3 months interval (2 times) 500.00
iv)Duck feed 200.00
v)Prophylactic measures (L.S.) 340.00
vi)Insurance charge (L.S.)
vii)Cost of hortiplans
(10 coconuts and 40 arecanuts)
i)Cost of harvesting (L.S.)
Grand Total (A+B) 24,888.00
Income and Expenditure
Considering 75% survivability of the stock fish and an average weight of 70 gm
in 10 months cultures period the total harvestable fish will be 731 kg. The
value of produced fish at the rate of Rs. 50.00 kg is Rs. 36,550.00.

Sr.N Particulars Quantity & Rate Amount

o. (Rs.)
1. Annual Income – Fish 731 Kg @ 50.00/Kg 36,550.00
2. Annual Income – Duck eggs 4500 Nos @ Rs. 11,250.00
2.50/eggs
3. Annual Income – Duck meat 60 Kg @ Rs. 3000.00
50.00/Kg
Total Income 50,800.00
Total Expenditure 24,888.00
NET INCOME PER ANNUM 25,912.00
 Poultry-Fish Integrated System
 Much attention is being given for the development of poultry farming
in India and with improved scientific management practices; poultry
has now become a popular rural enterprise in different states of the
country.
 Poultry housing, when constructed above the water level using
bamboo poles would fertilize fishponds directly. This system utilizes
poultry droppings for fish culture.
 Production levels of 4500-5000 kg/fish/ha could be obtained by
recycling pond manure into fishponds.
 Broiler production provides good and immediate returns to farmers.
Procurement of quality chicks, housing, brooding, feeding and
disease management are important for this type of system.
 In fish poultry integration, birds housed under intensive system are
considered best.
 Birds are kept in confinement with no access to outside.
 Deep litter is well suited for this type of farming. About 6-8 cm thick
layer prepared from chopped straw, dry leaves, saw dust or
groundnut shell is sufficient.
 Apart from eggs and chicken, poultry also yields manure, which has
high fertilizer value.
 The droppings of chicks rich in nitrogen and phosphorus would
fertilize fishponds.The production of poultry dropping in India is
estimated to be about 1,300 thousand tons, which is about 390
metric tones of protein.
 Utilization of this huge resource as manure in aquaculture will
definitely afford better conversion than agriculture.
 Stocking Density of Fish
 The application of poultry manuring in the pond provides a
nutrient base for dense bloom of phytoplankton, particularly
nano plankton which helps in intense zooplankton development.
 The zooplankton has an additional food source in the form of
bacteria which thrive on the organic fraction of the added
poultry dung. Thus, indicates the need for stocking
phytoplanktophagous and zoo planktophagous fishes in the
pond.
 In addition to phytoplankton and zooplankton, there is a high
production of detritus at the pond bottom, which provides the
substrate for colonization of micro-organisms and other benthic
fauna especially the chironomid larvae.
 Mixed culture of only Indian major carps can be taken up
with a species ratio of 40 % surface, 30 % column and 30 %
bottom feeders.
 Another addition will be macro-vegetation feeder grass carp,
which, in the absence of macrophytes, can be fed on green
cattle fodder grown on the pond embankments.
 The semi digested excreta of this fish forms the food of
bottom feeders.
 For exploitation of the above food resources, polyculture of
three Indian major carps and three exotic carps is taken up
in fish cum poultry ponds.
 The pond is stocked after the pond water gets properly
detoxified.
 The stocking rates vary from 8000-8500 fingerlings/ha and a
species ratio of 40 % surface feeders, 20 % of column
feeders, 30 % bottom feeders and 10-20 % weedy feeders
are preferred for high fish yields.

Bengal Science Congress
 Use of poultry litter as manure : The fully built up deep litter
removed from the poultry farm is added to fish pond as manure.
 Two methods are adopted in recycling the poultry manure
for fish farming
1) The poultry droppings from the poultry farms is collected,
stored it in suitable places and is applied in the ponds at
regular instalments
2) Constructing the poultry housing structure partially
covering the fish tank and directly recycling the dropping
for fish culture
 Direct recycling and excess manure however, cause
decomposition and depletion of oxygen leading to fish mortality. It
has been estimated that one ton of deep litter fertilizer is
produced by 30-40 birds in a year.
 As such 500 birds with 450 kg as total live weight may produce
wet manure of about 25 Kg/day, which is adequate for a hectare
of water area under polyculture.
 The fully built up deep litter contain 3% nitrogen, 2% phosphate
and 2% potash.
 Poultry husbandry practices
Factors: breed, variety and strain of birds, good housing arrangement, blanched feeding,
proper health care
 Housing of birds
 In integrated fish-cum-poultry farming the birds are kept under intensive system. The birds
are confined to the house entirely.
 The intensive system is further of two types - cage and deep litter system.
 The deep litter system is preferred over the cage system due to higher manurial values of
the built up deep litter.
 In deep litter system 250 birds are kept and the floor is covered with litter. Dry organic
material like chopped straw, dry leaves, hay, groundnut shells, broken maize stalk, saw
dust, etc. is used to cover the floor up to a depth of about 6 inches.
 The birds are then kept over this litter and a space of about 0.3 - 0.4 square meters per
bird is provided.
 The litter is regularly stirred for aeration and lime used to keep it dry and hygienic.
 In about 2 month’s time it becomes deep litter, and in about 10 months time it becomes
fully built up litter. This can be used as fertilizer in the fish pond.
 The fowls which are proven for their ability to produce more and large eggs as in the case
of layers, or rapid body weight gains is in the case of broilers are selected along with fish.
 The poultry birds under deep litter system should be fed regularly with balanced feed
according to their age.
 Grower mash is provided to the birds during the age of 9-20 weeks at a rate of 50-70
gm/bird/day, whereas layer mash is provided to the birds above 20 weeks at a rate of 80-
120 gm/bird/day.
 The feed is provided to the birds in feed hoppers to avoid wastage and keeping the house
in proper hygienic conditions.
 Egg laying
 One nest should be provided for 5-6 birds.
 Egg production commences at the age of weeks and then gradually decline.
 The birds are usually kept as layers up to the age of 18 months. Each bird
lays about 200 eggs/yr.
 Harvesting
 Keeping in view the size of the fish, prevailing rate and demand of the fish in
the local markets, partial harvesting of table size fish is done.
 Final harvesting is done after 12 months of rearing. Fish yield ranging from
3500-4000 Kg/ha/yr and 2000-2600 Kg/ha/yr are generally obtained with 6
species and 3 species stocking respectively.
 Eggs are collected daily in the morning and evening. Every bird lays about
200 eggs/year.
 The birds are sold after 18 months of rearing as the egg laying capacity of
these birds decreases after that period.
 Pigs can be used along with fish and poultry in integrated culture in a two-tier
system. Chick droppings form direct food source for the pigs, which finally
fertilise the fish pond.
 Depending on the size of the fish ponds and their manure requirements, such
a system can either be built on the bund dividing two fish ponds or on the
dry-side of the bund.
 The upper panel is occupied by chicks and the lower by pigs.
Economics of Fish-cum-Poultry

a) Expenditure Rs.
1 Construction of Pond,Water Supply Channel, Installation of 25000
Tube well/Renovation/Lease Amount
2 Electricity & Water charges 60000
3 Construction of Poultry Shed ( Rs.150000/- for 10 years) 15000
4 550 Chicks 8250
5 22500Kg Poultry Feed 230000
6 Medicines for Fish & Poultry 50000
7 Fishing, Sale of Poultry Birds & Labour 40000
TOTAL EXPENDITURE 428250

b) Income
Sale of 6000 KG Fish 300000
Sale of 118750 Eggs 415625
Sale of 500 KG Poultry Birds 50000
Total Income 765625

c) Net Income(B-A) 337375

 Cattle Fish Integrated System
 A large population of cows and buffaloes exists in the country which plays a vital
role in the national economy.
 Fish farming can become more production-oriented if integrated with cattle
farming.
 Cattle are allowed to graze on pond banks and grassy areas in the vicinity and
manure is either collected or washed directly from the cattle sheds into the ponds.
 It has been proved that in the composite fish culture (rohu, mori, thaila and 3
Chinese carps) when the ponds are manured with cowdung @ 15,000 kg/ha/year,
an excellent yield of 5,000 kg fish/ha/year can be obtained.
 Fertilization of nurseries and rearing ponds with cowdung is a widespread
practice in Pakistan.
 However, there is a strong need to standardize the number of animals required to
provide manure per unit area of fish ponds.
 It has been estimated that fresh cowdung manure voided by two cows is sufficient
to fertilize one ha of pond area.
 ECONOMICS OF FISH CUM DAIRY Farming
a) Expenditure Rs.
Construction of Pond, Water Supply Channel, Installation of
25000
Tube well/Renovation/Lease Amount
Electricity & Water charges 17500
2000 Fish Seeds 1500
Construction of Shed for Animals (Rs. 150000/- for 10
15000
years)
Purchase of 5 Murrah Buffalo (Rs 40000/- for 5 years) 40000
13000 Kg Animal Feed 234000
Medicine for Animals & Fishes 10000
Labour Charges 40000
TOTAL EXPENDITURE 383000
b) Income
Sale of 6000 KG Fish 300000
Sale of 10000 Ltr. Milk 300000
Sale of 5 Young ones of Buffalo 100000
TOTAL INCOME 700000
c) Net Income (B-A) 317000
 Ecosystem of Integrated Fish Farming
Integrated fish farming system works in following way:
 Trapping of solar energy and production of organic matter by primary producers.
 Utilization of primary producers by phagotrophs or tertiary consumers.
 Decomposition of primary producers and phagotrophs by saprotrophs or osmotrophs.
 Release of nutrients for producers.
The animal waste in water body enter into the food chain in three different ways:
 Feed :Certain bottom feeders like Cyprinus carpio and Cirrhinus mrigala directly utilized
the organic particles which are generally coated with bacteria along with other material.
 Autotrophic production: Some of the decomposed portion of waste products provides
nutrients for the micro-flora (autotrophs), while non-mineralised portion provides food base
for bacteria and protozoa (heterotrophs). Temperature, light, micro and macroflora,
inorganic nutrients, carbon, phosphorous and nitrogen are the basic inputs required for
photosynthesis process.
 Heterotrophic production
Micro fauna (zooplankton) feed on small manure particles coated with bacteria. In the
process, bacteria is digested while rest is excreted. In this heterotrophic production system
micro fauna (protozoans and zooplanktons) are produced finally shortening food chain. This
system of production is not linked with the process of photosynthesis.
 Advantages of Fish farming systems

 Fish provides high quality animal protein for human consumption.

 A farmer can often integrate fish farming into the existing farm to create additional income
and improve its water management.

 Fish growth in ponds can be controlled: the farmers themselves select the fish species they
wish to raise.

 The fish produced in a pond are the owner's property; they are secure and can be harvested at
will.

 Effective land use: effective use of marginal land e.g. land that is too poor, or too costly to
drain for agriculture can be profitably devoted to fish farming provided that it is suitably
prepared.
 Advantages of Integrated Fish Farming
Systems
 Integrated fish farming systems utilise the waste of live stock, poultry and agriculture byproducts for fish
production. About 40-50 kg of organic manure can produce 1 kg of fish.

 Fish farms having an integration with mulberry cultivation, sericulture and silk extraction from cocoons
allow the pupae to be utilised fish feed and the worm faeces and wastewater from the processing factory to be
used as pond fertilisers.

 Pond silt can be used as fertiliser for fodder crops which in turn can be used to raise live-stock and poultry or
as fish feed.

 Thus a recycling of waste is done in integrated fish farming system.

 The scope of integration in a fish farm is considerably wide.

 Ducks and geese may be raised on the pond, pond dykes may be used for fruit plants and mulberry
cultivation or for raising pigs, cattle, and dyke slopes for fodder production.

 Integrated fish farming systems not only fish but meat, milk, eggs, fruits, vegetables, mushrooms etc. can be
obtained. This system fully utilizes the water body, the water surface, the land, and the pond silt to increase
food production for human consumption.