Muhammad Anwar
Pakistan Agricultural Research Council
Islamabad, Pakistan
ABSTRACT
In Pakistan, the idea of integrated fish-crop-livestock production system is in embryonic form. So
far, very little scientific work/study has been attempted in this aspect. Also very little investment has
been made in this sector. This is mainly due to diversified ecological zones in the country, religious
trend of the people, lack of education of the farmers as well as consumers and relatively less practice
in modern technologies and recent advances in the production systems. Eating habits of the people
have discouraged the investors which play an important role in the development of livestock/fish
industry. However, by adopting this type of production system, with little extra investment, small
farmers can increase significantly their income. Moreover, rural population particularly women can
also be involved in livestock, poultry and fish production.
Different aspects pertaining to integrated fish-crop-livestock production systems have been
discussed in this review article.
INTRODUCTION
The present economic pressure for maximizing food production and minimizing production cost with a general concern for energy conservation has led to an approach of integrating fish farming with animal husbandry and agriculture. Although integrated fish farming system has long been practised in China and other Asian countries, yet the concept has been introduced in Pakistan only recently. The integration of fish culture with livestock or cash crops, holds a considerable potential for augmenting production of animal protein, generation of employment opportunities in the rural areas and improvement of socio-economic condition of the farmer.
Integrated farming activity has opened new horizons of increasing production per unit area at low inputs through an increased interest in utilization of animal manures as a substitute of high cost of major inputs (fish feed and inorganic fertilizer, involved in aquaculture). It is a multi-commodity farming system with the waste recycling as the key feature and fish culture as the major activity.
LIVESTOCK-CUM-FISH CULTURE
The use of animal waste to fertilize fish ponds leads to greater fish yield, as the manure provides active nutrients (NPK) for the metabolic cycle in the ponds and promotes the growth of plankton which is natural food for fish. Cattle, poultry and ducks can be raised on the embarkments or in the vicinity of the ponds.
Cattle-Fish Farming
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.
Poultry-Fish Farming
Poultry farming is now an established commercial enterprise in Pakistan. It can be effectively combined with fish farming keeping in view the fact that poultry droppings serve as an excellent fertilizer for fish ponds. The joint farming operation requires little space, low capital investment, quick returns and distributed turnover. Poultry droppings are the richest in highly soluble inorganic salts and have the highest N and P values as compared to other manures.
It has been experimentally indicated that droppings of 500 birds is enough to fertilize one hectare pond area. The yield of about 3.9 t/ha/yr has been obtained in composite culture system stocked @ 8,000 fish/ha. High survival rate and faster growth were recorded when a mixture of cowdung and poultry droppings was used.
Livestock-Poultry-Fish-Horticulture
Integrated system has been experimented at Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Islamabad, Pakistan (Muller, 1987). Under this model, the main purpose of the integrated recycling is to utilize the wastes and by-products from one component of the cycle to the other as a feed, fuel or fertilizer. Poultry litter has long been considered as an excellent source of protein and minerals for feeding the ruminants. Poultry litter can substitute cottonseed cake used at 20 percent level in a complete beef ration and has also proved to be an important economical feed ingredient for lactating animals. In general, broiler litter may substitute some 40 percent of the forage and feed cost by 40 percent of more. In addition to the economic consideration, the most important problem in the country is the poor availability of forage during the scarcity period when forage has to be either substituted by crop residues, which are of much lower nutritional value than broiler litter, or by concentrated feeds which are expensive. It has been calculated that 158 broilers, or 107 replacement birds, or 45 layers, or 33 growing turkeys, reared on litter, are required to recycle the waste per large ruminant at 30 percent litter feeding in the ration. The litter so collected can supply 60–100 percent of protein requirement and 40 percent of the bulk required by an average dairy animal.
The manure collected from the buffaloes is flushed to the biogas plant, and after it is fermented into the digestor, methane gas is produced which can be used as fuel for household use. The slurry coming out from the biogas plant is collected, diluted with water, and is fed to the fish ponds. The phytoplankton and zooplankton growth is used by the fish as feed (Fig. 1). The fish can attain on the average about 500g liveweight when reared on effluents within a period of 4 months, whereas the fish attained over one kg livewight when ponds were supplemented with rice bran or wheat bran.
Duck-Fish Farming
The system is based on the same concept of an efficient use of water area to increase its biological productivity through the use of duck droppings which either fall directly in water or are collected from duck sheds and used for fertilizing the ponds. Ducks usually consume tadpoles, mosquitoes and dragon fly larvae which are not consumed by fish. Another advantage is that ducks feed on snails which are vectors of certain fish parasites. Ducks not only fertilize ponds but also release nutrients from the pond soil by dabbling activity, thus resulting in enhanced pond productivity. In Pakistan, however, there is a need to educate the consumers to take duck meat and eggs so that the system can become economically viable.
ECONOMICS OF FISH-CROP-LIVESTOCK FARMING
Unfortunately, no experimental case studies have so far been undertaken in Pakistan from economic standpoint. However, several surveys conducted in Asian/European countries have clearly demonstrated that this system of increasing animal protein production can be profitable and contributes significantly to rural economy.
Figure 1. Integrated recycling model farm parc concept
AGRICULTURE-CUM-FISH CULTURE
Culture of fish in rice fields and cultivation of vegetation, fruits and crops along the dikes is prevalent in China and South-East Asia countries.
Rice-Fish-Prawn Culture
It is being practised in many countries of Asia. Fish cultured in trench or canal dug in paddy fields in low-lying areas yielded 700 kg/ha fish alongwith 5.5 ton/ha of paddy. There also exists great potential for culture of air-breathing fish in the paddy fields as they can easily withstand low water and oxygen levels. The possibility of fish culture in paddy fields in Pakistan can be worked out to utilize low lying water areas for dual purpose.
Fish Farming-cum-Horticulture
Pond banks provide a suitable place which can be economically used for raising fruit plants like banana, papaya and vegetables. Farmers in Pakistan have realised the usefulness of horticulture as a source of regular income. They are using pond dikes for cultivation of fodder, napier grass, Sudan grass, maize and alfa-alfa which are used as food for animals as well as grass carp, thus ultimately cutting down the production cost.
Fish Farming-cum-Sericulture
Mulberry plants are grown on and around pond dikes which are irrigated with pond water. The system is commonly practised in China and newly introduced in other countries. Silk is extracted from the silkworms which are reared on mulberry leaves while the remaining pupae (having very high protein content) are fed back to the fish and excellent growth of fish feed on pupae has been recorded. This technique is now becoming popular and can also be tried in Pakistan in pilot scale projects.
POULTRY-FISH FARMING IN PRIVATE SECTOR
Under private sector, one integrated poultry cumfish-farm has been established by M. Haq Nawaz near village Chinawan, Tehsil Wazirabad, district Gujranwala, Pakistan (Javed and Akhtar, 1989). Twenty fish ponds, each measuring one hector have been established. Water depth is maintained at 4-5.5 feet. All ponds are surrounded with eucalyptus trees. In each pond, 2500 fingerlings (2-3 cm) of Indian major carps (Kahu, 45 %, Mori 10 %, Thella 15 %) and Chinese carps (Silver carps 20 %, Grass carps 10 %) were placed. Ponds are watered with tube wells especially arranged for this prupose. Mixed fresh droppings from poultry and cowdung was placed on two sides of each pond at the rate of two trollies. It is expected that after 18 months, fish will attain on an average 2 kg. The project has been recently started and results are awaited. Waste water from the ponds is used for irrigation purpose and vegetables are grown.
PROSPECTS FOR DEVELOPMENT
In order to develop integrated production systems in Pakistan, following areas need to be stressed.
Research
Integration of aquaculture with livestock and agriculture is an efficient way of increasing production per unit area with low inputs involved in the system. Although enough amount of information is available throughout the world to standardize the number of animals to be used per hectare of fish pond area, yet more efforts should be directed towards the adaptive research to make efficient use of the existing technologies. In case of livestock-fish farming system, the frequency of manuring, optimum manure loading rates, desilting of ponds and other management measures need to be worked out to ensure healthy rearing of fish with minimum economic losses.
Training and Extension Services
To minimize the technological constraints, there is an urgent need to train a large number of technicians, extension workers and farm engineers to support and sustain the integrated fish farming programme. Infrastructure and suitable facilities for undertaking such training programmes should also be developed at the educational and training institutions. Besides, demonstration farms and training centers with an objective of ‘learning by doing’ can also be right steps in this regard.
Credit Facilities
Adequate banking facilities and loan-giving agencies should be made available for aquaculture development. The strategy should be developed in such a way that development investment be shared more by the small-scale marginal farmers who constitute the majority. Similarly, low interest rate and long repayable period will serve as incentives for the farmer to establish his farm and make more income.
CONCLUSIONS
The integration of fish culture with livestock and agriculture needs to be seriously viewed because this activity can go a long way in the uplift of rural life through manifold increase in return on investment. Although the information concerning production data does not exist, it appears that with proper management and technical skills, integrated farming could become a profitable and viable industry in a country like ours where the economy is largely based on agriculture.
REFERENCES
Javed, M.Y. and Akhtar, N. (1989). Livestockpoultry-fish integrated farming system. Feasibility Report Directorate of Fisheris, Lahore, Pakistan.
Muller, Z.O. (1987). Integrated Recycling Model Farm PARC Concept. Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Islamabad, Pakistan.
