Bangladesh, though rich in having around 1.5 million ponds of different sizes covering an area of about 146,955 hectares of land, only about 52% (DoF 1991) of the ponds are, at present, being utilized for fish production through extensive method. Production of fish per unit area is about 1161 kg/ha/yr which is very poor compared to that of other adjoining countries having similar climatic conditions (Rahman 1989). Inadequate extension service coupled with improper management and production techniques viz. high or low stocking, imbalanced stocking ratio, inadequate manuring and feeding etc. have been considered responsible for low production of fish.
As most of the farmers are poor and living in rural area, it is not possible for them to follow the intensive technology of fish production which requires higher inputs supply. An appropriate intermediate technology for the farmers of Bangladesh, thus should be the semi-intensive culture technique which requires moderate inputs and production management based mainly on proper stocking rate and ratio and adequate manuring on a regular basis with or without supplementary feeding.
Production of fish through integrated fish farming by using animal or agricultural by-products in fish pond as manure and feed has appeared to be the most appropriate technique for rural farmers.
Scope of using cow dung in fish pond is limited in Bangladesh because of increased use of cow dung as fuel and manure in crop land. Chicken manure which is rich in nutrients, not being properly utilized in the country, could be utilized in fish production.
Traditionally, typical farmers of Bangladesh grow food grains, fruits and vegetables in their land. The farmers also keep cattle and poultry birds and raise fish in their ponds. But all these are scattered, there is no inter-linking between the farming components. The only thing to do now is to integrate the possible farming components together in a mutually supportive manner.
Now, integrated fish culture is being introduced in this country, too. Several trails were conducted at Fisheries Research Institute (FRI), Mymensingh on integrated fish-cum-poultry farming system and a production of around 4.5 t/ha/yr of fish have been achieved (FRI, 1991).
This Project demonstrated the polyculture and integrated techniques of increasing fish production through semi-intensive fish culture at different locations of the country. The present manual has been prepared based on the findings of various culture trials conducted at different government farms during 1990-92. The manual is intended to provide and enhance the knowledge required to culture carps successfully in undrainable ponds through semi-intensive, polyculture and integrated fish farming in Bangladesh.
