Title : Assessment of suitability of fish culture in paddy fields: Growth performance of Channa punctatus and paddy yield
Abstract:
The present investigations have been carried out in Village Pipal Tha, District Jind, Haryana (India) to explore the possibility of culture of fish, Channa punctatus in paddy fields. 12 paddy plots of 120 square meter area were selected and four treatments (T1: No Fish, no pesticide in paddy fields; T 2: Fish in paddy fields without pesticide exposure; T3: Fish in paddy fields with recommended dose of pesticide and T4: Fish in paddy fields with pesticide exposure whatever the dose used by farmers) were maintained. Paddy fields without fish but pesticide exposure according to farmer that means farmer’s treatment was also considered (T5). Fingerlings of C. punctatus were stocked with paddy fields with mean body weight of 15.50±0.40 g @ 1 fish/3 sq. m of area. Two experiments were conducted, in experiment 1 no supplementary feed was given to the fish whereas in Experiment 2 fish were fed on freeze dried tubifex worms or blood worms. Physico- chemical characteristics of water and fish growth performances were analysed from mono-paddy culture fields and paddy cum fish culture fields. Values of water quality characteristics remained in optimum range for fish culture in both the experiments. Growth performance in terms of weight gain, growth % gain in BW (%), specific growth rate revealed significantly high values in treatment T2 followed by treatment T3 and T4. Carcass composition revealed higher accumulation of protein, fat and energy in fish grown in T2 as compared to T3 and T4. Paddy production from treatment plots and Framer’s plot was calculated per hectare in order to calculate the economics and it was observed that the values increased from treatment T1 to treatment T3 and thereafter decreased in treatment T4 and treatment T5. A comparison of trial conducted with and without supplementary feed revealed that growth performance in experiment 2, with supplementary feed was higher in comparison to trial without supplementary feed. Although there was extra investment on supplementary feed yet net profit was higher in treatment with supplementary feed. Thus concurrent culture of rice and fish with optimum management practices can not only yield economic benefit to farmers but can contribute significantly to sustainable food security of the nation
Keywords: Carcass composition, Fish Growth, Paddy cum Fish culture, Supplementary feed, water quality
