Integration of aquaculture and agriculture: a route to sustainable farming systems

The integration of agriculture and aquaculture as a means of intensifying resource use and improving the productivity of many current farming practices in Southeast Asian and African countries is discussed. A brief account is given of work undertaken by ICLARM in Malawi and India regarding the improved use of marginal lands to integrate crops, vegetables, trees, livestock and fish, outlining also the various problems involved in the extension of such integrated fish farming systems.

Adaptation of coastal communities in the Philippines to the impacts climate change

The Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corporation (Quedancor) of the Philippine Department of Agriculture has the critical responsibility of providing and improving credit assistance to fishers, it also has the task of helping its beneficiaries meet the repayment obligations of their loans. One reason for defaults can be attributed to the devastating impact of natural calamities. Schemes in place are still insufficient to help safeguard lending programs and operations from non-repayment of loans due to production losses and damages to personal properties.(PDF contains 5 pages) Natural calamities include the uncertainties and vagaries of weather and climate that bring about typhoons, floods, and drought; earthquakes; volcanic eruption as well as pests and diseases that affect the productivity of fisheries. When natural calamities occur, small fishers are unable to pay their loans from Quedancor, moreover they have difficulty renewing their loan applications from Quedancor or accessing credit from other sources. Failure to access credit could disable them to continue venture on fishing activities and could eventually jeopardize the welfare of their entire household. The inability of creditors to pay their loans and meet their obligations also impair, to a large extent, the financial operation and viability of the lending institutions. Risk management schemes currently employed include price stabilization measures, targeted relief` to typhoons and drought victims, and crop insurance systems, to name a few. Some of these schemes are becoming very expensive to implement. Moreover, they fail to enable fishers regain sufficient resources so that they may continue production.

Small-scale aquaculture for rural livelihoods: Proceedings of the Symposium on Small-scale aquaculture for increasing resilience of Rural Livelihoods in Nepal. 5-6 Feb 2009. Kathmandu, Nepal

Over the years, aquaculture has developed as one of the fastest growing food production sectors in Nepal. However, local fish supplies have been extremely inadequate to meet the ever increasing demand in the country. Nepal imports substantial quantities of fish and fish products from India, Bangladesh, Thailand, and elsewhere. Integration of pond aquaculture in existing crop-livestock-based farming system is believed to be effective in increasing local fish supply and diversifying livelihood options of a large number of small-holder farmers in southern plains (terai) and mid-hill valleys, thereby also increasing resilience of rural livelihoods. There is growing appreciation of the role of small-scale aquaculture in household food and nutrition security, income generation, and empowerment of women and marginalized communities. This book includes a total of 25 papers presented at the ‘Symposium on Small-scale Aquaculture for Increasing Resilience of Rural Livelihoods in Nepal’, held in Kathmandu on 5-6 February 2009. The papers cover technological, social, economic and environmental aspects of small-scale aquaculture development emerged from research and development initiatives of governmental, non-governmental and international research organizations in recent decad

Agri-aqua farming in Thailand

Integrated agriculture-aquaculture systems have been in existence in Thailand for centuries. This country has the most varied integrated farming operations in southeast Asia; pig, cattle, buffalo, chicken, duck, vegetable, aquatic plant, rice and orchard in combination with fish are practices. The systems most preferred by subsistence farmers are rice-fish, duck-fish and chicken-fish culture. A brief outline is given of these 3 systems.

Ecological limits of high-density milkfish farming

In the Philippines at present, milkfish farming in ponds includes a wide range of intensities, systems and practices. To make aquaculture possible, ecosystems are used as sources of energy and resources and as sinks for wastes. The growth of aquaculture is limited by the life-support functions of the ecosystem, and sustainability depends on matching the farming techniques with the processes and functions of the ecosystems, for example, by recycling some degraded resources. The fish farm has many interactions with the external environment. Serious environmental problems may be avoided if high-intensity farms are properly planned in the first place, at the farm level and at the level of the coastal zone where it can be integrated with other uses by other sectors. It is believed that the key to immediate success in the mass production of milkfish for local consumption and for export of value-added forms may be in semi-intensive farming at target yields of 3 tons per ha per year, double the current national average. Intensive milkfish farming will be limited by environmental, resource and market constraints. Integrated intensive farming systems are the appropriate long-term response to the triple needs of the next century: more food, more income, and more jobs for more people, all from less land, less resources, and less non-renewable energy.

Fisheries Research Institute (FIRI) Annual Report 1994

This is the first annual report of Fisheries Research Institute (FlRl) under the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO). NARO was formed by a statute of the government of Uganda in 1992 and became fully operational in 1994. NARO is charged with coordinating and managing national agricultural research in crop. livestock. forestry and fisheries. FIRI is one of the research institutes of NARO. It is charged with generating information and technology to facilitate increased and, sustainable utilization of aquatic resources.

Integrated Sensor Systems for Vessels of Opportunity, National Oceanographic Centre, Southampton, UK, October 10-12,2006 : workshop proceedings

The use of self-contained, low-maintenance sensor systems installed on commercial vessels is becoming an important monitoring and scientific tool in many regions around the world. These systems integrate data from meteorological and water quality sensors with GPS data into a data stream that is automatically transferred from ship to shore. To begin linking some of this developing expertise, the Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT) and the European Coastal and Ocean Observing Technology (ECOOT) organized a workshop on this topic in Southampton, United Kingdom, October 10-12, 2006. The participants included technology users, technology developers, and shipping representatives. They collaborated to identify sensors currently employed on integrated systems, users of this data, limitations associated with these systems, and ways to overcome these limitations. The group also identified additional technologies that could be employed on future systems and examined whether standard architectures and data protocols for integrated systems should be established. Participants at the workshop defined 17 different parameters currently being measured by integrated systems. They identified that diverse user groups utilize information from these systems from resource management agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to local tourism groups and educational organizations. Among the limitations identified were instrument compatibility and interoperability, data quality control and quality assurance, and sensor calibration andlor maintenance frequency. Standardization of these integrated systems was viewed to be both advantageous and disadvantageous; while participants believed that standardization could be beneficial on many levels, they also felt that users may be hesitant to purchase a suite of instruments from a single manufacturer; and that a "plug and play" system including sensors from multiple manufactures may be difficult to achieve. A priority recommendation and conclusion for the general integrated sensor system community was to provide vessel operators with real-time access to relevant data (e.g., ambient temperature and salinity to increase efficiency of water treatment systems and meteorological data for increased vessel safety and operating efficiency) for broader system value. Simplified data displays are also required for education and public outreach/awareness. Other key recommendations were to encourage the use of integrated sensor packages within observing systems such as 100s and EuroGOOS, identify additional customers of sensor system data, and publish results of previous work in peer-reviewed journals to increase agency and scientific awareness and confidence in the technology. Priority recommendations and conclusions for ACT entailed highlighting the value of integrated sensor systems for vessels of opportunity through articles in the popular press, and marine science. [PDF contains 28 pages]

A proposed integrated livestock-rice-poultry-cum-fish culture in enclosure system

Integrated agriculture-cum-fish farming has been practised profitably for ages in the Chinese small-scale farming system. There is a great potential for this system by utilizing the vast Nigerian flood plains (approx. 515,000 ha). Dogongari Bay in Lake Kainji Basin was identified as a suitable site for this system after some extensive fish culture trials. Polyculture of Clarias spp., Heterotis niloticus and Tilapia was proposed for integration with layers in the poultry house, 2-ha upland rain-fed rice farming and indirect cattle rearing in the 5-ha enclosure site. Cost benefit analysis showed that the system will consistently record profit as from the second year of operation. Various complex factors were identified to affect profitability of this mixed farming system. Concerted research approach is needed to fully understand the interrelationships of the various components of this integrated system. Generous funding of research activities is very crucial in this situation

Commercial aquaculture in Nigeria: a vertically integrated approach in the commercial freshwater farming of tilapia in floating bamboo net-hapas and cages systems

Tilapia once termed "poor man's" fish, still remains as the highly-priced food fish in many developing countries. The good attributes of this fish prompt its use in intensive aquaculture vertically integrated systems (VIS) which embrace broodstock development, hatchery/nursery and growout phase. Based on the series of studies carried out at Kainji Lake Research Institute, in New Bussa, Nigeria using Oreochromis (Tilapia niloticus) in floating bamboo hapas/cages, the recommended intensive modular systems were estimated to be capable of producing 4 million Tilapia fingerlings and 729 tons fish (Market-size) annually. Cost-benefit analysis showed the venture to have high prospects. It is recommended that priority be given to Tilapia cage culture at the national level in order to contribute immensely towards increased fish production

Uganda and Malawi field pilots of proposed LSMS fisheries module: summary report

While an overwhelming majority of sub-Saharan African countries exhibit serious weaknesses in statistics pertaining to crop and livestock sectors, the deficiencies in terms of nationally representative data on the fishery sector are even more acute. The very little data available on the sector are essentially derived from case studies of selected fisheries, and the limited nationally representative data available are generally derived from a few questions included in the livestock section of household surveys. These do not permit the detailed characterization of the fishery production systems. As a consequence in many countries the decision-makers and planners lack the most basic information about the role and importance of the fisheries sector to their national economy. As part of an initiative called the Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) project, a collaboration was developed between the World Bank and the WorldFish Center to address this situation. This report provides detail on pilot testing of a fisheries module for living standards measurement surveys.

Applying systems ecology to the analysis of integrated agriculture-aquaculture farms

The article suggests a preliminary list of properties as a point of departure for quantifying various ecological facets of the integrated agriculture-aquaculture farms.

Integrated rice-prawn farming in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam: a route towards sustainable and profitable farming systems?

Economic analysis and performance of the integrated rice-prawn farming systems in the Mekong Delta (Vietnam) are reviewed, including the problems and constraints of this integrated system technology.

Integrated aquaculture-agriculture adoption and impact in rainfed farming systems in Sakata, Malawi

ICLARM introduced integrated aquaculture-agriculture (IAA) in Sakata, Malawi three years ago. Since that time, and without extension support, the number of farmers with ponds increased from 4 in 1993/94 to 12 in 1995/96. To learn why and how IAA is spreading, a study of impact and adoption was conducted in the 1995/96 production season. Interviews were conducted with farmers to discuss lAA and collect data on farm function through the use of bioresource flow diagrams. Motivations given by farmers as to why they adopted IAA were to improve household nutrition and income. Constraints to adoption identified by farmers were availability of labor and capital to purchase inputs

Integrated cage-cum-pond culture systems with high valued climbing perch (Anabas testudineus) in cages and low-valued carps in open ponds

An on-farm trial was conducted over 150 days to determine appropriate stocking ratio, growth and production of climbing perch (Anabas testudineus) in cages and carps in open water of ponds in eighteen farmers' ponds from Haluaghat Upazila at Mymensingh district of Bangladesh. One or two 1 m super(3) cage was suspended in each of 12 earthen ponds and other 6 ponds served as control without cages. Climbing perch of 2-3 g in size were stocked in cages while fingerlings of silver carp (Hypophthalmicthys molitrix), catla (Catla catla), rohu (Labeo rohita), mirgal (Cirhinus cirrhosus), rajputi (Puntius sarana) and common carp (Cyprinus carpio) were stocked at 1 fish/m super(2) with a species ratio of 5:4:4:4:2:1 in open water of all ponds to give cage to open-pond fish ratios of 1:1 (T sub(1:1)) and 2:1 (T sub(2:1)) and 0:1 (T sub(0:1)) as three treatments with six replicates each. Survival of climbing perch was higher in T sub(1:1) (61.67%) than that of T sub(2:1) (29.5%) and was significantly different (p>0.05) between the treatments. Stocking of small size climbing perch fry increased the mortality rate in cages. The net yields of Thai koi were 0.13±0.01 (t/ha) and 0.10±0.01 (t/ha) in treatments T sub(1:1) and T sub(2:1), respectively and both were significantly different (p>0.05). Survival of-open-pond carps was high, ranging from 50 to 91.67% with significantly lower in T sub(0:1) than that of T sub(1:1) and T sub(2:1) treatment. Net and gross yield of each carp species were significantly higher in the T sub(1:1) and T sub(2:1) treatment than that in T sub(0:1) treatment. Net revenues were positive but low in all treatments. Therefore, bigger size climbing perch with lower stocking ratio (T sub(1:1)) is suitable for integrated cage-pond culture of climbing perch and carps. However, more on-farm trials in different ecosystem with scientific interventions are necessary to develop the technology for further dissemination among the rural farmers.