Farmers interviewed during the survey produced about 2.3 tons of tilapia during 1988. The average household had nine individuals. Therefore, for the concerned household, the quantities produced were equivalent to about 5.1kg (landed weight) per individual and year. Using the above average production figures, the production for the Luapula Province as a whole during 1988 should have been of the order of 8 to 9 tons of tilapia. Generally the species composition is given as “mixed tilapia”. Only one farmer reported producing catfish.
Productivity was expressed in terms of kg/100 m2/year. The yield is a product of the quantities taken out through major harvests and through intermittent harvesting. As will be seen later it is a minority (about 20%) who rely exclusively on intermittent harvesting. For the majority, the productivity figures represent the total amount of fish taken out during major and intermittent harvests.
There is a marked difference in productivity between farmers who have several ponds, and those who have only one. The former, based on data collected for 30 ponds, show an average of 22kg/ are/year (or 2.2 tons per hectare and year), while the latter show only 6kg/are/year. There seem to be no simple explanations for the levels of productivity. Although the activity in itself is simple, the number of factors affecting productivity means that it becomes increasingly complicated to determine the effect of any one in isolation. The productivity is basically a function of the know-how and knowledge of the farmer applied against his resource base and the general economic conditions of the particular region. The simplest approach to improving productivity is probably to improve the farmers know-how.
Ponds are earthen. Generally they receive water from rivers or springs. Some also obtain ground water through seepage; one reported using piped water. See Figure 3.1. While almost all pond owners had access to water throughout the year, some experienced deficiencies in water supply during the second half of the calendar year.
Figure: 3.1 Pond use & water source
Source: The Survey
Note: Categories are mutually exclusive
Ponds vary in size from a few square metres to several thousand square metres. The most common is between 100 and 200 square metres. As most farmers had more than one pond (an average of 3.17) the average subsistence farmer (practising and former) had a total of 1 040 square metres of pond surface area, giving an average pond size of 326m2. As the ponds were considerably smaller in the Chibote area (129m2) the average for the rest of the province was correspondingly larger (360m2).
Amongst practising farmers nine out of 10 report that they feed, while only two of three report that they apply fertilizers. In fact, outside the Chibote mission area, as many as 38% report that they do not use fertilizers, while 84% of the farmers who have been under the influence of the mission do so.
The use of feeds is common. Most households seem to use at least two kinds. Vegetable materials are the most common, followed by household leftovers and maize bran. Only about one in four of the respondents reported on the frequency of feed application. It seems clear however, that it is applied more frequently than fertilizers; generally from several times a day to once a week. The quantities applied on each occasion vary from just under 3kg for household leftovers (22% provided information), to just over 4kg for maize bran (30% gave the information) to almost 7kg for vegetable materials (60% reported). The availability of feed is reported to be good. Virtually all have household leftovers throughout the year. Few respondents gave information on the amounts available.
Manure is the most common fertilizer. Non-composted vegetative matters are also given, but less commonly. One farmer in three reports using this material. Few (25%) provide information about application rates. Amongst those who do, the most common practice seems to be to apply fertilizer once a month. As for quantities applied, the information is scanty. Most data is provided for manures. Here 66% of those who apply manures report. The average dose given is about 7 kg.
Tilapia is harvested either intermittently or in a major (more seldom complete) harvest. Normally the fish is either eaten or sold in fresh form.
Figure 3.2 shows the proportion of farmers who use either harvesting method or both methods. As can be seen, almost half of the practising farmers harvest intermittently, but only about 20% use this method exclusively.
Figure 3.2 Harvesting practices
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Source: The survey
The practice of harvesting large portions of the available fish at one time (major harvest) dominates (almost 60% of the farmers). 20% informed the survey that they do only intermittent harvesting. Therefore, the combined surface area of ponds (that is, of sampled ponds) subject only to intermittent harvesting accounts for only about 10% of the total. Intermittent harvesting is practised more frequently by those who have several ponds, than by those who have one. See Table 3.1.
Table 3.1: Harvesting practices
| NUMBER OF OWNERS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| One Pond | Several Ponds | Total | |
| Only intermittent | 2 | 9 | 11 |
| Both intermittent & major | 1 | 10 | 11 |
| Only major | 14 | 15 | 29 |
| Total | 17 | 34 | 51 |
Source: The survey
For intermittent harvesting, the farmers resort to using different types of nets (cast-nets, gill-nets, seine-nets). As a rule the farmers seem to take out some 10 fish about once a month. It may be noted that intermittent harvesting practices are perhaps under reported. In the past this practice has not been regarded favourably by the authorities.
The data is not detailed enough to provide satisfactory relationships between harvesting practice and pond productivity. Those who have more than one pond report that on the average they harvest between 3 and 4kg/are/year in intermittent harvests. Thus, for them this harvest represents only 10 to 15% of the total. On the other hand the three “single-pond” owners report that they extract about 39kg/are/year through intermittent harvests. However, the number of replies is too small for any statistically valid conclusions.
The tilapia is eaten or sold, in both cases in fresh form. Those who report intermittent harvesting practices eat the fish they take out. The exception is one farmer who sells the fish he harvests intermittently.
Everyone who sells fish holds back some for consumption within the household. Only two farmers report sale of fish to wholesalers. The majority seem to be not too concerned about whom they sell to, but by the fact that they do not have sufficient fish to sell.
Table 3.2 shows that more than 90% of those who culture fish (whether they sell it or not) continue to buy fish. This would seem to indicate that for those households who report not selling fish (70%) the pond production does not satisfy the household, demand.
Table 3.2: How farmers obtain fish
| Only through Purchase | Purchases through barter, or fishing or free gift | Only through barter or fishing or gift | Only by fishing | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farmers who trade in cultured fish | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 15 |
| Farmers who do not trade in cultured fish | 20 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 35 |
| Total | 32 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 50 |
Source : The Survey
Note : Each farmer appears only once in the table.
The future production of tilapia in ponds in the province will depend upon: (i) the average physical productivity of the ponds (ii) the number of ponds in use and (ii) the number of ponds being constructed.
Few farmers plan to change their fish culture practices. Some (7 respondents) wanted to add fish species (to undertake poly-culture). The physical productivity reported (9 kg/ha/year) is low. In spite of this the authors do not expect that fish farmers on their own will be able to drastically increase the productivity of their ponds. Growth in farmed fish production will be closely linked to an increase in the total area of utilized fish ponds. On the other hand, even minor increases in fingerling supplies and extension work can greatly increase the physical productivity. A majority of the farmers say that they apply additional feeds and organic fertilizers to the ponds. The amounts available are not known but any increase, no matter how small, raises productivity. However, it is the distinct impression of the survey team that few farmers had access to enough manures to theoretically increase productivity.
Chibote area is an exception to what has been stated above. In this area around 90 farmers have recently started fish farming. Many of the farmers have been trained and according to this survey, 78% are familiar with the intended culture system, as compared to 23% in the rest of the province. Thus a higher productivity can be expected in Chibote than in the remaining parts of the province. At the time of the survey no harvest had yet been carried out by these new fish farmers. Thus, the productivity and production data presented are all collected from the remaining areas.
When the Chibote farmers start to harvest, both the production and the productivity data should improve from the province as a whole. Although the Chibote farmers represent 46% of the total number of practising subsistence fish farmers in the province, they control only 13% of the pond area used by the practising farmers. The Chibote pond area occupies 8% of the total pond area in the province (including that of both practising and former farmers).
The total number of fish ponds in the province has been estimated at 800. Of this number, less than 40% are stocked with fish (see Figure 3.3 for the situation in the sample). The term “unused”, in Figure 3.3, refers to unused ponds in farms where at least one pond was in use. The term “abandoned” includes ponds really and truly abandoned as well as some which have recently been completely harvested. (The survey defined a farm as abandoned when there was no fish in any of the ponds). The almost 500 un-stocked ponds are owned by intending as well as practising and former fish farmers.
About 40% of the ponds are in use. As they are relatively large, almost half the of combined surface was in use. Thus, there seems to be a clear tendency to keep the larger ponds in use.
Other reasons for unstocked ponds are: lack of water, broken pond walls, deficient canals or other pond impairments, and lack of fingerlings. The large number of dry ponds was partly due to the low amount of rain received during 1987 and 1988, and a decreasing number of dry ponds can be expected. To what extent ponds presently stocked will cease to be used, will largely depend on the supply of fingerlings. If no major change occurs in the availability of fingerlings, the number of unstocked ponds will remain high and production low.
Figure 3.3. Pond Use
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Source: The Survey
The number of unstocked and abandoned ponds is expected to increase if no major improvement is made to extension support, particularly in the supply of fingerlings. The lack of fingerlings, low stocking rates, poor pond construction and insufficient knowledge of culture technologies all contribute to low or no fish produce in ponds. Sooner or later, this situation in combination with the wear and tear through rain and wind -will result in overgrown ponds. These will be impossible to use and subsequently abandoned as fish farmers will be needed to make major efforts to bring them back into use. The farmers themselves cannot probably do much to alter the present situation. A large proportion of those ponds which need repairs will remain unrepaired until fingerlings are available. This situation applies also to about 60 fish ponds belonging to farmers who have never been able to stock their ponds (intending fish farmers).
If fingerlings are provided to the farmers, a large number of ponds can be expected to be stocked and utilized. If all the presently unused ponds could be brought into production, the total quantity of fish produced in ponds in Luapula would double from presently just under 9 tons to some 18 tons.
Among present farmers, almost one third reported that they were in the process of constructing additional ponds, and 88% said they intended building additional ponds in the future. However, the survey team got the impression that sometimes, particularly in Samfya District, the farmers somewhat overstated their interest in the hope of being granted assistance.
If those farmers who were building ponds at the time of the survey continue doing so at the rate of one pond of average size a year, the total pond area would increase by roughly 8% per year during the next few years,
All potential farmers want to have fish ponds and many are constructing ponds, although at different speeds in different areas of the province. The construction of ponds does not seem to be a major obstacle or constraint. Most said that members of the household could construct the pond as soon as the harvesting of farm crops had been finished. The work could be undertaken using existing resources and tools.
If the incentive to start with fish farming remains at the present level, an increase in the number of ponds can be expected. The survey does not reveal the rate at which this will happen. If it is assumed that in the province as a whole the ratio between potential farmers on the one hand and practising plus ex-farmers on the other is the same as in the sample, and assuming that 50% of the potential fish farmers construct one average sized pond a year, then their contribution to the total pond surface area will be about 4% a year.
Combining the projected increases for practising and potential subsistence fish farmers, an increase of about 10% per year can be expected in the number of ponds and the total pond area.
It appears extremely difficult to predict how much more farmed tilapia will be available per year because of such increases in total pond surface area. In view of the considerable share of existing ponds which were without fish at the time of the survey, there is little reason to believe that a major portion of the new ponds will be stocked in the near future. This in part is explained by the relative isolation of most farmers. Ponds are generally far apart and the transport of fingerlings from one pond to another is a major hurdle. The Chibote area is an exception in the sense that here the intending and potential farmers live fairly close together and can arrange for transfer of fingerlings with relative ease.
Present and potential fish farmers are expected to expand the pond surface area at a rate of about 10% during the next few years. Given that only half the present total pond surface area is in use, a growth of about 20% in output per year can be expected assuming a modest productivity rise. However, to this element of growth should be added those arising from any change in average productivity on the one hand and any modification in the share of ponds in use on the other. The survey does not yield sufficient information to speculate on these two growth components. They will depend on government support, through extension services, and on the general economic conditions in the province.
