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Small-scale
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BACKGROUND The Provincial
Aquaculture Development Project (LAO/97/007) is funded as part of a UNDP country programme
for rural development. The project is government executed through the Department of
Livestock and Fisheries, with technical and management assistance provided by FAO. The
project duration is three years (November 1997 December 2000).
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LAO/97/007 is working in five provinces: Oudomxay, Sayaboury, Xieng Khouang, Savannakhet and Sekong Provinces. Within these provinces, there are 14 districts involved with a total of 37 farmer groups (440 families). The target provinces are distributed along the length of the country and incorporate both lowland and upland environments. The project objectives are to: improve fish fry production from government hatcheries through structural
improvements and training; INTRODUCTION Lao PDR has extensive water resources in the form of rivers, lakes and wetlands. Capture fisheries and the collection of aquatic animals during the rainy season are important activities in the country and provide an important part of the national diet. Rice cultivation (rainfed, irrigated and hill rice) is the predominant agricultural activity. The country is a largely mountainous (80 percent), requiring the terracing of rice fields. The climate is characterised by a 6 months dry |
season (November - April) and an equal period of
rain (May - October). AQUACULTURE AND FISHERIES Aquatic products form a major part of the Lao diet. During the rainy
season, these products are collected from all forms of water bodies and wetlands (rice
paddies). During the dry season, there is a major effort to collect the remaining animals
trapped in shallow ponds, etc., created by receding waters. Surplus aquatic products
produced during the rainy season are preserved in a variety of ways according to cultural
preference and prevailing local conditions (commonly: fermenting, pickling, drying and
smoking). The preserved products (principally fish) are then utilised throughout the dry
season when food is relatively scarce. |
mountainous topography of the country). These values are probably
under-estimated since surveys often fail to record the consumption of some widely consumed
aquatic products. A recent survey of consumption by farmers in target areas of LAO/97/007
returned fresh fish consumption figures equal to or higher than previous estimates. If the
contribution of dried and preserved fish and other aquatic products is included, total
consumption would be 22 kg.capita-l.yr-1 (Table 1). |
(clothing and bedding was second in the other
cases). About 81 - 97 percent of households reported that fresh fish was consumed in some
quantity during the year. |
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| Markets Fish culture is becoming increasingly popular. Fish plays an important part in cultural activities of lowland Lao people and is the food of choice for celebrations and festivals. Since fish spoils quickly, and due to poor transport facilities and lack of ice, distribution of fish from the Mekong River system to more remote areas is restricted. As a result, during the seasonal migrations of fish up the Mekong, fish prices collapse in some areas (specifically southern Champassak), while relatively short distances away, markets for fish are still under-supplied. During the dry season, fish are difficult to obtain and preserved fish are more commonly consumed. Peak price for fish is during the Lao New Year festival (mid-April), which coincides with some of the driest weather. Aquaculture provides fish during that season, allowing farmers to benefit from a good price for what is often a relatively low quality product. Survey data suggests that most fish produced form rural aquaculture is consumed in the home or at least is not directly marketed. It is typical for a family to purchase fish from a neighbour in order to provide fish for celebrations. Rural Lao fish culture requires a relatively low entry cost (self-construction of pond, fingerlings |
for stocking and occasional feeding or fertilization). Species such as common carp and tilapia are popular partly because they breed in ponds with perennial water and farmers do not need to purchase fingerlings. Productivity of these ponds is extremely low, but the low financial risk makes this approach popular. Importation of marine fish (from Thailand and Vietnam) is common although quantities are relatively small. Cultured fish from Thailand also can be found in most markets along the Mekong River. Wild caught fish from the Mekong may be landed in Lao but due to the higher price in Thailand are more likely to be sold on the Thai side. Land and ponds Land availability for fishpond construction is an issue in upland areas since flat land is primarily used for rice cultivation. The construction cost of fish ponds is prohibitive to most farmers who view aquaculture as a low investment, low risk enterprise. As such, farmers may construct a shallow pond, but are unlikely to invest significant capital in the operation, preferring the lower yield and financial security of a low input system. Tenancy of land is relatively rare since migration and re-population of areas during and after the war have lead to evenly |
sized land packages. Previously, large family land holdings were divided amongst children ahead of time due to the concern that government requisition might ensue. Good agricultural land and land suitable for wet rice cultivation is at a premium. Rice-fish culture is currently restricted to one or two provinces with a cultural heritage of rice-fish culture and/ or where rice-fish cultivation has been introduced through development projects. In LAO/97/007 target provinces, the majority of Lao fish ponds are shallow (water depth less than 50 cm) and are hand constructed. Average fishpond area per household is 2 300 M2. Deeper ponds can be constructed in upland areas by damming valley streams, but this requires earthmoving equipment. Also, such ponds often collapse under spate water runoff during the monsoon season, since they usually lack diversion canals. |
Fishponds which are able to hold water through the dry season until Lao New Year are able to command premium prices. Fish Fry demand and production Estimates of the fish fry requirement of the Lao PDR, based on land, reservoirs and rice-fields that are suitable for fish production are shown in Table 4. These figures are considered indicative or upper limits since not all listed sites/ areas are suited to aquaculture and the present fry stocking rates are very low. Despite this, it is apparent that fry production in the country is far below demand (only 30 percent of demand is supplied by in-country production). More recent estimates by LAO/97/007 show an increase in production from the provincial hatcheries but this is still well below estimated demand. The shortfall provides an incentive for the importation of fish fry from adjacent. |
In situations where farmers are land-secure and possibly producing a rice
surplus, inputs to the aquaculture system may become more significant. Feeding and
fertilisation may be practised more regularly, and investment in pond Where machinery
is available, this may also be used for pond construction. Typically machine constructed
ponds are found along roadsides where soil has been Water supply to
ponds is varied but the typical Lao pond is rainfed. Water retention in the ponds is |
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| Figure 2. Net cages (hapas) for fry nursing in Lao PDR |
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countries (Thailand, Vietnam and China) where fry can also be produced at a lower cost. Due to the short fish growing season, in the typically seasonal ponds of the country, and the better survival of fingerlings (compared to fry), a large number of advanced fingerlings (3-5 cm) has to be supplied in a relatively short period of time (peak demand is during the early part of the monsoon season (June)). Since production of advanced fingerlings at provincial hatcheries is constrained by lack of adequate nursing area, and as farmers only purchase fry in small numbers, small farmer-based hatcheries would be more suited to meet demand in their localities. These hatcheries can be assured of sale of all their production since orders are taken in advance. Fry nursing (in net cages) by farmers has been promoted by the AIT (Asia Institute of Technology) Outreach Project in southern Lao PDR (Savannakhet province) for nearly 5 years. Expertise in fry production techniques is not required at the farmer level since fry are purchased from the provincial hatchery. The small farmers merely take fry and nurse for up to one month and then sell (Figure 2). The economics of the operation are favourable, although the capital cost of the net cage can be a problem. Typically, the farmers rent the net cages at a subsidised rate for the nursing period. Farmers in Oudomxay have nursed fry to fingerling size, for their own use, as part of LAO/ 97/007 activities. This has helped reduce fry importation and provided a market for the small two week-old fry produced by provincial hatcheries in high numbers; previously, these were unmarketable due to high mortality after stocking. The demand for small fry is currently |
localised, but interest is expected to increase as nursing activities are extended to five new provinces in 1999. Aquaculture inputs Inputs to ponds are generally low due to lack of availability or the tendency to feed other livestock in preference to fish. Pond fertilization is practised, but again the availability of fertilizer varies and there may be some competition between use in rice cultivation/paddy preparation and fishpond preparation. Farmers who have no experience of ricefish culture are often concerned that the construction of channels in their paddies might critically affect their rice yield. Results from some preliminary farmer trials in one province have shown that rice-fish culture actually increases the overall rice yield, even though ten percent of the paddy area is reduced by channel construction. It is not clear whether the improved rice yield was derived from fish activities in the rice paddy (stirring up nutrients, predation of rice pests) or whether occasional feeding/fertilization (to promote fish growth) was greater than normally practised in the absence of fish. The latter, if true, would highlight the minimal input nature of Lao agricultural systems, whereby very small changes in inputs can have quite dramatic results on production. Typically livestock are not penned and therefore single point sources of manures are rare. This increases the effort required for manure collection and decreases the likelihood that sufficient fertilizers will be applied to fishponds. Integration of livestock over fishponds can be very productive where livestock are provided with complete feed, but this is rare in rural Laos. |
Harvestingfish from rice-fish culture |
In upland areas, the use of boiled cassava as a fish feed is common; cassava is also widely eaten as a staple. Mixtures of rice bran and cassava give good fish yields especially if farmers also apply some fertilizers to ponds. Fertilization of fishponds is a relatively common practice, although quantities are often inadequate for good pond productivity. Lime is often unavailable away from provincial capitals and, when available, is approximately three times the price in adjoining countries. Lime application is therefore uncommon in both aquaculture and agriculture. Formulated fish feed (herbivorous fish and catfish pellet) imported from Thailand is available in large cities and some provincial capitals and is expensive. There is a possibility that commercial fish feed production may commence in Vientiane Prefecture if |
Livestock integration with aquaculture is becoming established in peri-urban areas as more intensive livestock rearing methods are adopted. Rice milling in Lao PDR is performed at village level due to the availability of portable machinery. The cost of milling can be paid in currency or exchanged for the rice bran produced. Farmers unable to pay for milling will trade their rice bran. The lack of bran prevents these farmers from practising small animal husbandry (chickens, pigs) or providing inputs to fishponds. Rice mill owners are frequently the most diversified livestock producers, engaging in all species due to the ready availability of bran for animal feed.
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the market is found to be viable. Paradoxically, the high price of fish in markets makes use of formulated fish feeds economically viable. The tendency not to use feeds is probably due to perceive higher economic risks. References Fisheries Division. 1997. Fisheries Data. Department of Livestock and
Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Vientiane, Lao DPR. |
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