aqua culture and apiculture

Fisheries

Ponds serve various useful purposes, viz., domestic requirement

of water, supplementary irrigation source to cropping and

fisheries. With the traditional management, farmers obtain hardly

300-400 kg of wild and culture fish per ha annually. However,

poly-fish culture with the stocking density of 7500 fingerlings

and supplementary feeding will boost the total biomass

production.

Pond: The depth of the pond should be 1.5-2.0 m. This depth

will help for effective photosynthesis and temperature

maintenance for the growth of zooplankton and photosynthesis.

Clay soils have higher water retention capacity and hence are

best suited for fish rearing. Pond water should have appropriate

proportion of nutrients, phosphate (0.2-0.4 ppm), nitrate (0.060.1ppm)

and dissolved oxygen (5.0-7.0 ppm).

Water should

be

slightly

alkaline

(pH

7.5-8.5). If the

pH is less than 6.5, it can be

adjusted with the addition of lime at an interval of 2-3days.

Higher pH (>8.5) can be reduced  with the addition of gypsum.

Application of fresh dung may also reduce high pH in the water.

Organic manure such as FYM and poultry droppings may also be

applied to promote the growth of phyto and zooplankton. The

area allocated for pond in rice – fish – poultry farming system

varies between 10 – 33%.

Species of fish:

1. Among the Indian major carps, Catla (Catla catla)

is the fast growing fish. It consumes a lot of

vegetation and decomposing higher plants. It is

mainly a surface feeder. 

2. Rohu (Labeo rohita) is a column feeder and feeds

on growing plants decomposing vegetation, large

colonial algae, zooplankton and detritus to a small

extent.  

3. Calbasu (Labea calbasu) is a bottom feeder on

detritus. Mrigal (Cirrhimus mrigale) is also a bottom

feeder, taking dertritus on a large content, diatoms,

filamentous and other algae and higher plants.

Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) is a bottom feeder

and omnivorous.  

4. Silver carp (Hypophthalmichlthya malitrix) is

mainly a surface and phytoplankton feeder and also

feeds on microplants.

5. Grass carp (Cyernus carpia) is a specialized feeder

on aquatic plants, cut grass and other vegetable

matter. It is also a fast growing exotic fish.  

Poly fish culture: The phytophagous fish (Catla, Rohu and

Mrigal) can be combined with omnivorous (Common Carp),

Plankton-feed (Silver Carp) and Mud-eaters (Mrigal and

Calbasu) in a composite fish culture system. For example a

combination of silver carp (surface feeder), Mrigal (bottom

feeder), rohu (column feeder), and grass carp (specialized

feeder on aquatic plants) can be successfully used in the ratio

of 4:3:2:1 in poly fish culture. The recommended stocking

density is 7500 fingerlings/ha

Management: The fish are to be nourished through

supplementary feeding of rice bran, oil seed cakes and poultry

excreta. This will enable faster growth and better yield. This

stocking density will enable to get maximum yield of 2000 to

5000 kg/ha of fish annually.

 Bee keeping (Apiculture)

Bee keeping is one of the most important agro-based

industries, which does not require any raw material from the

artisan like other industries. Nectar and pollen from flowers

are the raw materials, which are available in plenty in nature.

Species : There are three species, Apis cerana indica (Indian

Bee), Apis dorsata (Rock bee) and Apis mellifera, (Italian

Bee), are complentary to each other but have different

adaptations. A. cerana is better acclimatized to higher

altitudes of the Himalayan region. A. mellifera & Apis

dorsata is more profitable in the plains.

Management: The bee-keeper should be familiar with the

source of nectar and pollen within his locality. The most

important sources are nectar and pollen. The sources of nectar

are Tamarind, Mango, Guava and most of the fruit crops.

Whereas the sources of pollen include crops such as maize,

sorghum & other millets, bulrush, sunflower and palm tree.

The plants which will provide nectar and pollen for honey

bees are known as bee pasturages. The bee keeping activity

must begin with flowering season. The beginner should start

with 2 and not more than 5 colonies. A minimum of 2

colonies is recommended because in the event of some

mishap, such as the loss of the queen occurring in one,

advantage may be taken with the other.

The bees are reared in beehives viz., Newtons beehive,

Longstroth beehive. The beehive consists of floor-board,

brood chamber, super chamber, top cover, inner cover, frames

and entrance rod. These parts can easily be separated. The

hive may be double walled or single walled. The single

walled hive is light and cheap. 

The most suitable time for commencing bee keeping in a

locality is the arrival of the swarming season. Swarming is a

natural tendency of bees to divide their colonies under

conditions that are generally favourable for the survival of

both parent colony and the swarm. The castes of bees include

queen, king & droves. This occurs during the late spring or

early summer.

Honey collection: Honey should have good quality to meet

the national and international standards. Qualities such as

aroma, colour, consistency and floral sources are important.

Proper honey straining

and processing are needed to improve the

quality of the produce. Honey varies in the proportion of its

constituents owing to the differences in the nectar produced

by different plants. The nectar collected by bees is processed

and placed in comb cells for ripening. During the ripening,

sucrose is converted into glucose and fructose by an enzyme

called invertase which is added to it by the bees. Honey is an

excellent energy food with an average of about 3500 calories

per kg. It is directly absorbed into the human blood stream,

requiring no digestion.