Culture practices of freshwater giant prawn in some selected areas of Mymensingh

A study was conducted to examine the culture practices of freshwater giant prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii in some selected areas of Mymensingh. Based on a sample of 100 farmers from three different upazila, namely Phulpur, Gouripur and Ishwargonj in Mymensingh district, 94% of farmers cultured prawn with fish in their pond. Only 6% of farmers cultured prawn, fish and dike crops for higher economic return. The culture period is typically nine months; hatchery produced post-larvae were stocked from May to June and harvested from November to January. Per hectare production of prawn, 375 kg/yr was very low because the farmers followed simple culture method. Most of the farmers made a profit of Tk. 68,403/ha/yr and the major costs incurred were for purchasing prawn seed and feed. The culture of prawn in pond system is technically possible under different conditions though expansion of small-scale prawn farming mainly depends on reduction of production costs. Future targets could be integration of pond prawn culture with other agricultural activities especially dike cropping and rice production in the monsoon.

Studies on morphometry and hydrology of Gandhisagar Reservoir with special reference to its fisheries

Gandhisagar, the second largest reservoir of India is located in Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh at latitude 24°44'N and longitude 75°33'E at an altitude of 403.56m MSL in orientation from NE to SE. It has an extensive water spread area of 66000 ha at full reservoir level with a maximum and mean depth of 49.52 and 11.73 m respectively. The maximum length and width of the reservoir are 112 and 16km having a total shore line of 442km. Details of catchment area, bathymetry, standard hydrological data giving water level relation of the basin to water spread area, volume and fish production and the bottom topographical details of 11 experimental fishing stations and 6 fish landing centres are discussed.