Integration of Poultry with Aquaculture in Seasonal Tank

Abstract

An experiment was conducted for short-term culture of carps involving marginal farmers in a seasonal tank with area of 15 ha at Budhemanahalli in Bengalore district. A rectangular pen of size 60 m x 22 m was installed in the tank using a close meshed HDPE cloth in a pre-selected area with uniform bottom. A low cost thatched poultry shed of size 10 m x 6 m was constructed within the pen enclosure, perching 2 m above the water surface at full tank level. A total of 260 chicks (Giriraja) of average weight of 200 g were reared in the shed. The pen was stocked with 1500 fingerlings of common carp (av. wt. 5 g) during July. No manuring or feeding was adopted. After rearing period of 80 days, the birds attained an average weight of one kilogram and 182 kg of birds were disposed off. A total of 277 kg of fish was harvested from the pen in 150 days of culture. The size of the fish ranged between 238-350 mm (av. 254 mm) in length and 260-840 g (av. 346.6 g) in weight. The results indicated the feasibility of integrating aquaculture with poultry rearing in short seasonal tanks or watersheds.