Induced breeding of catla has been catering for almost the entire seed requirement in all the countries where it is cultured, although riverine collection still forms the seed source in certain small areas. Hormonal stimulation for induced breeding often gives poor result in catla, compared to other major Indian carps. This poor breeding response, coupled with a relatively shorter spawning season, results in an inadequate production of hatchery-reared seed, which often fails to cover the entire needs of the farmers in several regions. While carp pituitary extract has been the common inducing agent used since the development of the induced breeding technology, several synthetic commercial formulations of purified salmon gonadotropin and dopamine antagonist such as Ovaprim, Ovatide and Wova-FH have also been successfully used in recent years. When pituitary extract is used, females are injected with a stimulating dose of 2-3 mg/kg BW followed by a second dose of 5 to 8 mg/kg after a lapse of 6 hours; males are given a single dose of 2-3 mg/kg at the time of second injection of the female. When synthetic formulations are used, a single dose of 0.4-0.5 ml/kg BW (females) or 0.2-0.3 ml/kg (males) is administered.

Though various types of hatchery systems have been tried over the years, the Chinese circular hatchery has proved to be the most efficient for large-scale seed production. Broodstock, stocked at 3-5 kg/m3 and in a female:male ratio of 1:1 by weight (1:2 by number) are injected with suitable inducing agents and released into a breeding tank with a water depth of about 1.5 m. The fertilized eggs, collected 8-12 hours later, are transferred to the hatching tank and kept for 64-72 hours for further incubation and hatching. The number and size of the hatching tanks in this type of hatchery varies, based on the production requirements and size of the breeding tank. In general, spawn recovery varies from 0.1-0.12 million eggs/kg of female broodstock. The seed rearing normally involves a two-tier system, i.e. a 15-20 days nursery phase for raising fry, followed by a 2-3 months phase for fingerling production.

Three-day old larvae, measuring about 6 mm, are reared for 15-20 days in small earthen nursery ponds of 0.02-0.1 ha, during which they reach 20-25 mm. In certain areas, brick-lined or cement tanks are also used as nurseries. Where only catla are stocked, earthen nurseries are stocked at 3-10 million/ha and cement nurseries at 10-20 million/ha. In many cases, however, farmers stock multiple carp species due to the non-availability of sufficient ponds for separate stocking. Pre-stocking nursery pond preparation includes the removal of aquatic weeds and predatory fishes, followed by liming and fertilization with organic manures and inorganic fertilizers. The application of soap-oil emulsion, or repeated netting with a suitable mesh size, is used to eradicate aquatic insects before stocking. A powdered mixture of rice bran and oilcake is the common supplementary feed. Survival rates normally range from 30 to 40 percent; however, survival often remains low due to improper management. The non-availability of commercial feed, forcing the farmers to resort to the conventional bran-oilcake mixture, is another limiting factor for the growth and survival of fry. The survival level of catla in nursery ponds is normally lower than that for rohu and mrigal.

The nursery-raised fry of 20-25 mm are further reared for 2-3 months to 80-100 mm (6-10 g) fingerlings in earthen ponds of 0.05-0.2 ha. Catla fry are reared along with rohu and mrigala in equal proportions at combined densities of 0.2-0.3 million fry/ha. Pond fertilization with both organic and inorganic fertilizers, and supplementary feeding with the conventional mixture of rice bran and oil cake are the norm; however, the dosage and form of application vary with the farming intensity and inherent pond productivity. The overall survival in these fingerling rearing systems ranges from 60 to 70 percent.

Being a surface feeder that is highly preferred by consumer, catla forms an integral component in carp polyculture systems in all the countries where it is reared, including India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Laos and Myanmar. It is the fastest growing species among the three Indian major carps. Standardized practice for grow-out in the carp polyculture system includes control of predatory and weed fish through the application of chemicals or plant derivatives; the stocking of fingerlings at a combined density of 4 000-10 000 fingerlings/ha; pond fertilization with organic manures such as cattle dung or poultry droppings and inorganic fertilizers; supplementary feeding with a mixture of rice/wheat bran and oil cake; and fish health monitoring and water management. The level of adoption of these practices varies from country to country, depending mainly on the resource availability and the economic status of the farmers. Normally, the grow-out period is one year, during which it grows to about 1.0 kg. In the Koleru lake area of Andhra Pradesh, the centre of commercial carp farming activity in India with a production water area of over 100 000 ha, the grow-out period extends up to 18 months. In this area, stunted juveniles (i.e. fingerlings reared in crowded conditions for over one year, and 150-300 g in size) are used as the stocking material and the average size of catla harvested is 1.5-2.0 kg. The production levels recorded in carp polyculture systems usually remain at 3-5 tonnes/ha/yr, with catla contributing about 20-30 percent of the biomass.

The fry/fingerlings supplied for grow-out stocking by most of the carp hatcheries/nurseries mainly comprise mixed species, often with a very low proportion of catla; the poor breeding response and comparatively low nursery phase survival of catla is the reason for this. Poor or non-availability of fingerlings of suitable size is another important limiting factor that compels farmers to stock small-sized seed, often leading to poor survival. The high cost of commercial feeds and feed ingredients sometimes restrains the farmers from feeding the correct quantity, thus also limiting production.

Catla also forms one of the important components in the sewage-fed carp culture system practiced in an area totalling over 4 000 ha in West Bengal, India. In this form of culture, which includes multiple stocking and multiple harvesting of 300 g fish, primary treated sewage is provided to the fish ponds as the main input. Even without the provision of supplementary feed, this system produces 2-3 tonnes/ha/yr; with supplementary feeding, this can be increased to 4-5 tonnes/ha/yr.

Consumers generally prefer catla to be large 1-2 kg. Thus, farmers often resort to harvesting this species only at the end of the culture period instead of during intermittent harvesting. In waterbodies where multiple stocking and multiple harvesting are practised, the harvesting of larger sized fish (over 500 g) is usually initiated after 6-7 months of culture, while the smaller ones are returned to the pond for further growth. Manually operated dragnets are the most commonly used gear for harvesting carps. Marketable sized fish are usually harvested through repeated netting. Cast nets are another important gear frequently used for partial harvesting of fish in small and backyard ponds.

Catla are marketed mostly in local markets, where they are sold fresh. The marketing of this species mostly relies on domestic markets, where it is sold fresh. In large commercial farms where the harvest is considerable, fish, after washing thoroughly in water, are packed with crushed ice at 1:1 ratio in rectangular plastic crates (usually 60 cm x 40 cm x 23 cm in size). Long-distance transport of these ice-packed fish in insulated vans is a common practice in countries like India, where catla are even transported over 3000 km by road to fish-deficit regions. Post-harvest processing and value-addition of this species is almost non-existent at present in any of the producing countries.

In general, carp are low-valued species fetching market prices of less than USD 1/kg at the producers' level; therefore, the use of major inputs such as seed, fertilizers and supplementary feed, besides labour costs, is kept to a minimum. Supplementary feed constitutes over 50 percent of the total input cost in carp polyculture; therefore, judicious feed management is of prime importance for enhancing profits. In extensive systems, with a targeted production level of 2-3 tonnes/ha, the cost of production is about USD 0.30/kg, while the costs increase to USD 0.5-0.6/kg in semi-intensive culture, where the targeted production is 4-8 tonnes/ha.