Mr. Padmanabhan Ganesan shares vital information and also
responds to questions from AgricultureInformation.com members on
freshwater fish farming business
With
an abundance of freshwater resources, India has still not been able to
tap even 30 percent of the potential area for inland fish production.
Many entrepreneurs have, however, chosen to take this occupation on
commercial scale. This is best manifested in Andhra Pradesh, which with
10,56,000 tons of inland fish production in 2007-08 ranked next only to
West Bengal, which is far more endowed with water resources. Andhra
Pradesh has emerged among the ranks encouraging farmers to form
cooperatives to take up farming in ponds around Kolleru lake.
Both the Central and State governments have come up with schemes to help the cause of the farmers.
India is a large producer of inland fish, ranking next only to Japan.
[hidepost]
‘In India fish culture is practiced in less than 30 percent of the total areas available’ to this Mr. Ganesan says, I have found that generally Krishi Vigyan Kendra is doing a good job of imparting knowledge but people are not aware of the same. The issue is you should know where the gold is to get it. People don’t have the information about Krishi Vigyan Kendra imparting free training. A person new to agriculture may not know where or whom to approach. Information has to be made easily available. Initially, I also had the same problem and only by searching through several channels, I came to know about Krishi Vigyan Kendra. People do not have any knowledge of the training being offered by them. It should reach the people. I feel that unless they do that, people will not opt to go for fishing.”
Fish culture in ponds
Out of the total inland fish production of over 3.6 million metric tons, more than 60 percent is contributed by fish culture in ponds and reservoirs. The average productivity from ponds on the national level is around 2,500 kg/ha/year, though in Andhra Pradesh and Haryana it is more than 5,000 kg/ha/year, while in some other states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh it is anywhere between 1,500 and 2,500 kg/ha/year. Fish culture is adopted by all kinds of farmers – small and marginal ones, relatively larger farmers and those who do it on commercial scale. Sizes of ponds also depend on how affluent the farmers are.
Ponds less than 100 square meters in area prove unsustainable, while those above 1 hectare are expensive for small players. Many farmers in Tamil Nadu, for instance, use ponds of sizes 30 feet by 30 feet to make their living. On the other hand, water spread of anything less than 10 hectares Ponds can be perennial or seasonal. While seasonal ponds can be used for short-term fish culture, provided they retain water for at least four to five months, perennial ponds are suited for fish culture on a larger scale. Since water dries up in a few months, seasonal ponds are easy to harvest fish. Any perennial pond retaining water depth of 2 meters can be used for fish culture.
Ponds are not the natural habitat of fish; it is rivers and canals. This makes it imperative for farmers to provide food from outside and also create a desirable environment. Fish food is provided in the form of oil cakes and rice bran. But to create conditions suitable for other organisms to grow inside ponds, fertilizers need to be applied. A combination of organic and inorganic fertilizers is ideal. Their application depends on the soil quality to a great extent.
To a question from Archidambaram, about 8,000 sq. ft pond with 4 feet water and the water exists 7-8 months in a year, Senior member Padmanabhan Ganesan replies that you can go for Carp varieties (Rohu, Catla, Mrigal, Grass Carp, Common Carp Silver Carp). I suggest you to go for Carp varieties as they are safe/ risk free to some extent and can be manageable. 1 square metre = 1 carp fish, 8000 sq. ft = 743.224 sq. metre. So, you can grow 743 carp fishes. I suggest you grow 40 percent (Catla + Silver Carp), 30 percent (Rohu + Grass Carp) and 30 percent (Mrigal + Common Carp). Since you have mentioned that you will have water for 7-8 months, you can grow the Carp varieties as they can be harvested from 6th month onwards. For this, you need fingerlings of size 8-10 cms and above and not below. Once you get experience in this, then you can go for Murrel, Catfish, Barramuda varieties as they give more profits
With
an abundance of freshwater resources, India has still not been able to
tap even 30 percent of the potential area for inland fish production.
Many entrepreneurs have, however, chosen to take this occupation on
commercial scale. This is best manifested in Andhra Pradesh, which with
10,56,000 tons of inland fish production in 2007-08 ranked next only to
West Bengal, which is far more endowed with water resources. Andhra
Pradesh has emerged among the ranks encouraging farmers to form
cooperatives to take up farming in ponds around Kolleru lake.Both the Central and State governments have come up with schemes to help the cause of the farmers.
India is a large producer of inland fish, ranking next only to Japan.
[hidepost]
‘In India fish culture is practiced in less than 30 percent of the total areas available’ to this Mr. Ganesan says, I have found that generally Krishi Vigyan Kendra is doing a good job of imparting knowledge but people are not aware of the same. The issue is you should know where the gold is to get it. People don’t have the information about Krishi Vigyan Kendra imparting free training. A person new to agriculture may not know where or whom to approach. Information has to be made easily available. Initially, I also had the same problem and only by searching through several channels, I came to know about Krishi Vigyan Kendra. People do not have any knowledge of the training being offered by them. It should reach the people. I feel that unless they do that, people will not opt to go for fishing.”
Fish culture in ponds
Out of the total inland fish production of over 3.6 million metric tons, more than 60 percent is contributed by fish culture in ponds and reservoirs. The average productivity from ponds on the national level is around 2,500 kg/ha/year, though in Andhra Pradesh and Haryana it is more than 5,000 kg/ha/year, while in some other states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh it is anywhere between 1,500 and 2,500 kg/ha/year. Fish culture is adopted by all kinds of farmers – small and marginal ones, relatively larger farmers and those who do it on commercial scale. Sizes of ponds also depend on how affluent the farmers are.
Ponds less than 100 square meters in area prove unsustainable, while those above 1 hectare are expensive for small players. Many farmers in Tamil Nadu, for instance, use ponds of sizes 30 feet by 30 feet to make their living. On the other hand, water spread of anything less than 10 hectares Ponds can be perennial or seasonal. While seasonal ponds can be used for short-term fish culture, provided they retain water for at least four to five months, perennial ponds are suited for fish culture on a larger scale. Since water dries up in a few months, seasonal ponds are easy to harvest fish. Any perennial pond retaining water depth of 2 meters can be used for fish culture.
Ponds are not the natural habitat of fish; it is rivers and canals. This makes it imperative for farmers to provide food from outside and also create a desirable environment. Fish food is provided in the form of oil cakes and rice bran. But to create conditions suitable for other organisms to grow inside ponds, fertilizers need to be applied. A combination of organic and inorganic fertilizers is ideal. Their application depends on the soil quality to a great extent.
To a question from Archidambaram, about 8,000 sq. ft pond with 4 feet water and the water exists 7-8 months in a year, Senior member Padmanabhan Ganesan replies that you can go for Carp varieties (Rohu, Catla, Mrigal, Grass Carp, Common Carp Silver Carp). I suggest you to go for Carp varieties as they are safe/ risk free to some extent and can be manageable. 1 square metre = 1 carp fish, 8000 sq. ft = 743.224 sq. metre. So, you can grow 743 carp fishes. I suggest you grow 40 percent (Catla + Silver Carp), 30 percent (Rohu + Grass Carp) and 30 percent (Mrigal + Common Carp). Since you have mentioned that you will have water for 7-8 months, you can grow the Carp varieties as they can be harvested from 6th month onwards. For this, you need fingerlings of size 8-10 cms and above and not below. Once you get experience in this, then you can go for Murrel, Catfish, Barramuda varieties as they give more profits
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