Amur carp variety — no small fry for aquaculturists
M.J. PRABU
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This breed is fast growing, late maturing and spawns throughout the year
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— Photo: By special arrangement
FAST GROWERS: Each fish attains a weight of 600-700 gm in about six months.
AQUACULTURE HAS two main divisions. One, marine organisms and the other, fresh water organisms.
Marine creatures such as shrimp, prawns are grown mainly for export and fresh water fishes such as carp, katla and rogu are grown for the local market.
Fishing shortage
Though, at present, there is a serious shortage of fishes in the ocean due to over fishing and natural calamities, there continues to be a good demand for marine products in several countries.
A good and viable alternative to overcome this shortage is for farmers to grow fresh water fishes in local water bodies such as ponds, lakes and tanks.
The advantage of growing fresh water fishes is that unlike marine fishes, fresh water fishes can be monitored for their growth and weight to ensure better harvest.
New breed
Researchers at the Inland Fisheries Division, Inland Fisheries Research and Information Centre, Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University, Hebbal campus, Bangalore have developed a new fresh water carp breed called Amur for small scale farmers.
"Amur has an elongated body, is fast growing and late maturing (in about 12 months) and spawns (lays eggs) throughout the year. Each fish attains a weight of 600-700 gm in about six months," said Dr. Y. Basavaraju, Professor and Head, Inland Fisheries Research and Information Centre. "About 5,000 -7, 000 fingerlings (small fishes of about 2 months) are required for raising in one hectare.
Normally we recommend about 5,000 fingerlings per hectare in monoculture (growing single species in a pond).
"In poly culture (more than one species in the same pond) about 7,500 fingerlings are required."
From a hectare, about 2,000 kg of fish can be harvested according to him. The major advantage of this breed is that it is suitable for growing in different water bodies such as small tanks, farm ponds, and large water bodies."
Low feed requirement
Carps are herbivores and can survive on low-cost, readily available feed material such as algae and fauna rather than high-cost fish meal that carnivorous species such as shrimp require to grow.
The fish can be fed with a conventional feed mixture of rice bran and groundnut cake, cooked rice and kitchen waste.
Its feeding habit is similar to other common carp species, explained Dr. Basavaraju.
More economical
Thus carp farming is both more economical and easier to integrate with other conventional farm activities than other types of aquaculture.
Frys (new born fish) of about 15 days old can also be grown in paddy fields, and after 2-3 months, the fingerlings can be sold.
"Farmers should dig trenches on all the four sides of the field and release the frys. Whenever the water level goes down in the fields the frys can take refuge in the trench.
This method has been proven to be very effective to ward off bird attacks," he said.
The faecal matter of the fishes serves as a good manure for the crops and because of the constant nibbling of the fishes the soil gets loosened. About 2 lakh frys can be released in a hectare.
An investment of about Rs.18,000, including purchasing the frys seed, feed cost and other miscellaneous expenses are required.
Net profit
The fishes can be sold at Rs.35 per kg and farmers can get a net income of about Rs. 50,000 (at the rate of 2,000 kg of fish harvested from an acre). The University sells the fingerlings priced at 50 paise each.
For further information readers can contact Dr. Y. Basavaraju, Professor and Head, Inland Fisheries Division, Inland Fisheries Research and Information Centre, Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University, Hebbal campus, Bangalore-560 024, email: y. basavaraju@gmail.com, phone: 080-23516451.
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