8. Opportunities for Further Development

8.1 Highlights of Past Development Projects
8.2 National Development Plan and Projects

8.1 Highlights of Past Development Projects

As has been set out in para 6, aquaculture has been recognized as an important sector of rural economy of India. The R&D Projects undertaken by the national government, state governments, either by their own resources or though extraneous funding support, provided strong support to the development of institutional, financial, technological and infrastructural aspects of rural aquaculture and with successful results.

Soon after the technologies of fish seed production and hatchery management, and composite fish culture were operational, the ICAR launched an All India Coordinated Project for their nationwide adoption. Government of India initiated the FFDA and BFDA and with the World Bank support under took carp and prawn hatchery projects to provide quality seed. Fish farmers responded wholeheartedly and undertook successfully fish seed rearing and culture activities for which R&D support continued. Entrepreneurs came forward and contributed immensely in farming of fish and shrimp and in their seed production. Matching with these developments, institutional building projects were started with the support of UNDP/FAO, which further strengthened aquaculture research and training base in the country. The ICAR strongly supported the efforts and created important institutions particularly CIFA and CIBA.

The Department of Agriculture Research and Education/ICAR constituted a committee in 1997 under Dr.P.C. Sarma, Member of Parliament to assess the impact of aquaculture research and technology development. The committee studied the scenario of R&D with detailed analysis of the data and information available from different sources. The committee pointed out that the direct impact of technology of induced carp breeding resulted in a major shift from riverine seed collection to hatchery seed production. This technology made possible the development of over 900 hatcheries in the country producing 15,000 million fry annually. Packages of practices of Composite Fish Culture for producing 5 to 15 t/ha/year are now available and are increasingly being adopted by farmers and entrepreneurs (Ayyappan personal communication). The committee also made the following recommendations.

• Multilocation testing and technology transfer should be stressed, with special emphasis given to eastern and northeastern regions of the country for strengthening of research and development activities.
• Resources management and data management involving primary and secondary data should be given utmost importance and a national aquaculture development plan for the country should be formulated.
• further support should be given to infrastructure development, inputs availability, mobile laboratories for soil and water analysis, fish health monitoring, credit financing to farmers and aquaculture insurance schemes.
• While emphasis on aquaculture programs for small and marginal farmers was given, the committee felt the necessity of adequate financial support for strengthening of aquaculture research and development.
• Research and development linkages should be strengthened and special attention should be given to programmes related to HRD and public awareness.

As indicated in Chapter 7, there has been a marked increase in inland fish production with increasing rural earning and employment.

Freshwater aquaculture presented very little or no environmental problems because of low production and little extraneous material input. In fact, it is highly environment friendly enterprise. However, intensification of shrimp farming resulted in certain environmental problems as discussed in section 3.4. However, it is expected that with the establishment of Aquaculture Authority of India the development and intensification of aquaculture will be properly regulated.

While the national expectation from the sector is high, which is rightly so, the aquatic resources themselves are in state of great stress as discussed in para 3 and need rehabilitation and restoration. Many of them have been in existence for varying period of time and are in trophic depression. Some are still productive but are full of weeds and trash fishes.

Growing population of human and animals around water bodies will put further demand for water in quantitative term and deteriorate its quality with increasing load of the nutrients and particularly organic matters.

8.2 National Development Plan and Projects

A. Freshwater Sector

a) National Freshwater Aquaculture Development Plan

CIFA as a premier national institution on freshwater aquaculture in the country prepared a Five-Year National Freshwater Aquaculture Development Plan, which envisages doubling of the fish production to the tune of 3.31 million tons from freshwater sector (CIFA 1998). The plan popularly known as Operation Aquagold examines in depth the prevalent levels of production in ponds and tanks in different states, their agro-climatic conditions, extent of aquaculture in each states, present and future demand, achievable production levels, and market demands etc.

The plan assumes that the present utilization of 826,230 ha would be increased to 11,99,500 ha with varying degree of productivity. It further assumes that the present national average @ 1.8 t/ha/yr would be increased to 2.762 t/ha/yr with production rates ranging from 0.5 t/ha/yr to as high as 8t/ha/yr.

After carefully analyzing the situation of each states it puts 3.67% of the total of 11,99,500 ha yielding @ 8t/ha yr, 0.5% @6t/ha/yr, 16.18% @ 5t/ha/yr, 34.08% @ 3t/ha/yr, 18.07% @2t/ha/yr, 19.17% @ 1t/ha/yr and 8.33% @0.5 t/ha/yr (Table 9).

The summary of the plan is shown below (CIFA 1998):

1. Country:	India
2. Water area available under ponds and tanks (ha):	23, 58,634
3. Present annual inland fish production (t):	22,42,170
4. Present annual freshwater aquaculture fish production (t):	15,12,000
5. Proposed area to be brought under fish culture (ha):	11,991-500
6. Projected annual freshwater aquaculture fish production (t):	33,12,800
7. Projected mean productivity (t/ha/yr):	2.762
8. Requirement of fry (million):	15,362.60
9. Requirement of feed (t):	52,04,500
10. Projected production details:

Target production (t/ha/yr)	Area coverage (ha)	Percentage of area covered (0/0)	Estimated production	Requirement of fry (million)	Requirement of feed (t)
8	44,000	3.67	3,52,000	1320.0	880,000
6	6,000	0.50	36,000	144.0	72,000
5	1,98,000	16.51	9,90,000	3960.0	19,80,000
3	4,11,800	34-33	12,35,400	4941.6	18,53,100
2	2,09,700	17.48	4,19,400	2297.0	4,19,400
1	2,30,000	19.17	2,30,000	2100.0	-
0.5	1,00,000	8.33	50,000	600.0	-
Total:	11,99,500	100	33,12,800	15,362.6	52,04,500

11.	Present and projected production	Present	Projected
	a) Total estimated area under freshwater aquaculture (ha)	8,26,230	11,99,500
	b) Total fish production from freshwater aquaculture (t)	15,12,000	33,12,800
	c) Productivity (kg/ha/yr)	1830	2762

12. Strategic requirements of Operation Aqua-Gold (Matsyavardhan)

a) Required increase in area:		3,73,270 ha; 45.18%
b) Required increase in pons productivity:		932 kg/ha/yr; 50.9%
c) Seed requirement (million)
	Q Spawn:	45,000
	1) Fry:	15,000
	n) Fingerlings:	7,500
d) Requirement of pond area
	Area for broodstock management (@2 t/ha):	45,000 ha
	Nursery area (@10 million/ha):	4,500 ha
	Rearing area (@100,000/ha):	75,000

About 7500 million fingerlings of 3-4 inches would be required for stocking. Though presently about 15007 million fry are being produced for both culture and culture-based fisheries but to achieve such production as envisaged in the plan 15000 million fry would have to be produced for culture only. With the present capability of farmers and capacity of the hatcheries, spawn production will not pose any problems, but raising of fingerlings will need nursery space.

The plan indicates that about 5.2 million tons of carp feed would be required annually to achieve the indicated rate of production from at least 72.5% of the projected water area which is supposed to yield over 2t/ha/yr (Table 10). It is assumed that formulated feed will not be required for fish production at this rate. The ponds will have proper manuring and fish will be fed with conventional feed like rice bran and oil cake. However to produce cheap feed for carp it is necessary to establish such feed mills which presently are non existent.

The plan reiterates the following issues:

· Resource Management

While the plan recommends minimum periods of 5 years lease, it also recommends incentives for establishment of the fish farms and aquaculture estates. Reclamation of swamps and derelict waters is highlighted for utilizing them for aquaculture operations.

Table 9. Requirements for seed, feed and other management measures for various production projections in carp polyculture

Productivity (t/ha/yr)	Stocking density fish/ha	Fry requirement No./ha (1:2)	Spawn requirement No./ha (1:3)	Survival (%)	Mean wt. (g)	Production (kg/ha/yr)	Feed (ratio)	Feed Qty. (t/ha/yr)
8	15,000	30,000	90,000	70	800	8,400	1:2.5	20
6	12,000	24,000	72,000	70	800	6,720	1:2	12
5	10,000	20,000	60,000	70	800	5,600	1:2	10
4	6,000	12,000	36,000	70	800	3,360	1:1.5	4.5
2	5,000	10,000	30,000	70	600	2,100	1:1	2.0
1	5,000	10,000	30,000	50	500	1,250	-	-
0.5	3,000	6,000	18,000	50	500	750	-	-

Other management measures:

1. Fertilization: Cowdung 10-15 t/ha/yr or poultry litter 2-4 t/ha/yr; Urea 212 kg/ha/yr @100 kg N/ha/yr; Single super phosphate 312 kg/ha/yr @50 kg P/ha/yr, liming 200 kg/ha where necessary.

2. Aeration: For maintaining disolved oxygen levels of 3-5 mg/l.

3. Water exchange to maintain disolved oxygen level of 3-5 mg/l.

4. Fish health management measures.

5. Periodical checks for fish growth and survival.

Source: CIFA 1998.

States	8 t/ha/yr	6t/ha/yr	5t/ha/yr	3 t/ha/yr	2t/ha/yr	1 t/ha/yr	0.5 t/ha/yr	Total
Andhra Pradesh	20	-	50.0	60.0	-	70.0	-	200.0
Assam	-	-	6.0	6.0	3.0	-	-	15.0
Bihar	-	-	10.0	30.0	30.0	-	-	70.0
Goa	-	-	-	-	1.5	-	-	1.5
Gujarat	-	-	-	20.0	20.0	-	-	40.0
Haryana	2.0	3.0	4.0	-	-	-	-	9.0
Himachal Pradesh	-	-	-	0.3	0.2	-	-	0.5
Jammu & Kashmir	-	-	-	4.0	5.0	-	-	9.0
Karnataka	-	-	-	10.0	20.0	50.0	70.0	150.0
Kerala	-	-	1.0	1.0	-	-	-	2.0
Madhya Pradesh	-	-	-	20.0	50.0	-	-	70.0
Maharahta	-	-	-	10.0	10.0	10.0	-	30.0
Orissa	-	-	10.0	30.0	30.0	-	-	70.0
Punjab	2.0	3.0	2.0	-	-	-	-	7.0
Rajasthan	-	-	5.0	10.0	-	20.0	30.0	65.0
Tamil Nadu	-	-	-	20.0	20.0	60.0	-	100.0
Utta Pradesh	-	-	10.0	80.0	-	-	-	90.0
West Bengal	20.0	-	100.0	100.0	-	-	-	220.0
North Eastern States	-	-	-	10.0	20.0	20.0	-	50.0
Others	-	-	-	0.5	-	-	-	0.5
Total	44.0	6.0	198.0	411.8	209.7	230.0	100.0	1199.5

Source: CIFA 1998.

Fully aware of the environmental hazards, the plan envisages no such problems in increasing the production to higher levels. However farmers are already fully aware of such problems and perhaps they are much better prepared than few years back when Ulcerative Fish Disease Syndrome took them by surprise.

Considering the growing demand of prawn, minor carp and cat fishes and of certain species having regional demand it recommend to increase the spectrum of culture species.

· Aquaculture inputs.

Considering the paucity of rearing space for fingerlings it recommends to ear mark proper nursery space at block level and to ensure proper rearing of fry to fingerling. Also it is recommended that farmers should stock their ponds with improved varieties of seed like CIFA-1R 1 -Jayanti and triploid grass carp.

· R&D supports and Linkages

Strong linkages between research and development agencies are reiterated. Similarly, strengthening of extension machinery is highlighted. Training for all levels of farmers, entrepreneurs, bank officials and development officials are recommended.

· Infrastructure Development

The plan recommends increasing involvement of government in providing infrastructural support to the aquacultural sector in the development of farms, hatcheries, fed mill and other ancillary industries such as manufacturing aerators, feed dispenser. The government should also support marketing facilities.

· Data Management

It is emphasized that a census is commissioned for compiling primary data on water resources, fish production levels, population of aquaculturists, marketing channels etc. for establishing proper information systems for aquaculture.

The above plan is under consideration of concerned authorities for implementation.

b) Need for R&D Programs/Projects

To ensure sustainable development of rural aquaculture, public and private support would be required for the following R&D programs/projects.

(i) R&D Project on Intensification of Studies on Fish Biodiversity and Training

There is a growing awareness and appreciation of the value of genetic diversity to aquaculture, and the need for demarcation and protection of rich biodiversity areas and conservation of endangered fish species. Development taking place in river basin environments and coastal areas has often had adverse effects on the aquatic ecosystem and its biodiversity. The degree of damage has seldom been assessed. Also, efforts were not made to seriously address the task of mitigating the adverse effects.

There is a need for an early assessment of the aquaculture species to evaluate and catalogue their salient characters for efficient utilization in aquaculture and to provide guidelines for timely conservation. The future of sustainable rural aquaculture will depend on the understanding of vast and varied gene pool of candidate species, and selection of desirable traits and their propagation.

The National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources under ICAR is already engaged in similar activities. However, further strengthening in terms of infrastructural facilities and a high degree of technical and managerial capabilities will be essential to provide the following results as soon as possible;

• Scientific leadership and guidelines to protect rich fish biodiversity
• Action Plan for mitigating adverse effects on fish biodiversity
• Methodology for propagating threatened species
• Documentation of Fish Genetic resources
• Provide training to Researchers/Extension Officers and to the progressive farmers on fish biodiversity collection and evaluation

(ii) R&D Project on Aquatic Productivity Management and Optimum Utilization

Since rural aquaculture is being carried out by resource poor subsistence farmers who do not have money for inputs, it is important to develop aquaculture technology specifically suited for them. Such technologies should depend on the primary productivity of the land and water and their optional utilization.

For such technologies, for example, 3550 kg of alga production would require 224 kg of nitrogen and 31 kg of phosphate. However, if phosphate were available half the amount i.e., 15.5 kg, alga production would be theoretically restricted to 1775 kg. Further, it is seen that the utilization efficiency of nitrogen in fish pond ranges only between 20-30% depending upon volatilization, fixation, seepage and management of ponds. Thus, even to have an entirely photosynthesis dependent systems the farmers have to spend considerable amount on fertilizers. Therefore technology where a part of nitrogen coming from nitrogen fixing algae becomes most relevant for rural aquaculture. In this regards CIFA studies on blue green algae and duck weed, and their use in fish culture should be further elaborated for wide scale adoption.

Similarly, it is also important that government undertake major development projects to rehabilitate derelict water bodies full of water hyacinth and other aquatic weeds. This is essential not only to accelerate the pace of aquaculture development but also for the conservation of water and maintenance of water quality through judicious management of primary productivity as discussed in para 3.4.

(iii) R&D Project on Aquaculture and Waste Management

Recycling of nutrients through aquaculture and integrated farming is an established practice. Recycling of wastewater through aquaculture popularly known as sewage-fed fish culture is prevalent in West Bengal since 1925. It is also estimated that there are about 130 such farms in and around Calcutta wet land, spanning an area of about 4000 ha. Scientific packaging of the technology for countrywide application is important with the increasing amount of human, animal, and domestic wastes. However, such packaging should take care of not only of all aspects of productivity, but also aesthetic sense and heath and hygiene aspects of producers and consumers.

Similarly, packaging of different models of integrated farming is essential for up gradation of loosely interwoven integrated farming presently practiced by the farmers.

(iv) R&D Project on Running Water Fish Culture

Although India possesses mountains and hills all along its boundary and thus having considerable number of hill streams offering opportunities for running water fish culture; not much has been done to utilize such resources. Hill area development programs need to have running water fish culture as an integral component, particular in view of its rural population who are amongst the poorest of the poor. It is heartening to note that researches done so far in the high altitude regions of the country is being packaged for pilot scale demonstration by the National Research Center on Coldwater Fisheries. However the efforts need to be further strengthened in terms of infrastructure and manpower so that the R&D program should forge ahead vigorously.

Similarly cage and pen culture technologies haven’t been popularized so far, although many research results have shown their viability, both financial as well as social. Much more serious efforts through an R&D project are needed to popularize such culture systems, which are ideally suited for many long water bodies. Moreover, such culture systems offer opportunities for land less to own something like cages or pens for production of fish particularly when they do not have ponds.

c) Development Projects

(i) Backyard hatchery project

Advances made recently in rearing technologies of fish spawn to fry and fry to fingerlings, have resulted in very high percentage of survival rate of high quality seed, which is a prerequisite for successful rural aquaculture. The greatest constraint is the paucity of rearing space and therefore it is important to have suitable areas developed district wise and to produce sufficient trained manpower to undertake raising fingerlings. Similarly, the raising of post larvae of shrimp and prawn need considerable amount of space and manpower. Thus it is essential that government encourage establishment of backyard hatcheries in large numbers for raising fingerlings and post larvae of prawn and shrimp. Preference may be given to women to operate such ventures.

(ii) Establishment of Fish Feed Mills

Supply of supplementary feed, which is nutritionally rich and economically affordable by the poor farmers, is important for rural aquaculture. Entrepreneurs have spent sizable amount of money for establishing feed mills for shrimp feed, but carp feed being cheaper it is difficult to attract private sector investment. One medium size feed mill having a capacity of 0.5 ton per hour would cost at least about IRs 5 million. Considering feed requirement of about 5.2 million tons in another five years to produce 3.3 million tones of fish (CIFA 1988) government financial support in the establishment of Feed Mills is inevitable.

B. Brackishwater Sector

The expansion and intensification of shrimp farming was somewhat haphazard and unregulated which resulted in certain conflicting social and environmental issues. The proposed development plan for a ten-year period faced certain unavoidable uncertainties. However the governments both at the Center and State levels are determined not to allow short-term gains over long-term sustainability. They are keen to upgrade the traditional farming, while giving stress on higher productivity without impairing the environment. The newly established Aquaculture Authority of India is responsible for promoting sustainable aquaculture, especially brackishwater shrimp culture.

It is thus hoped that India will certainly be promoting development of environmentally sound and sustainable aquaculture well integrated into rural, agricultural and coastal development plans in consonance with the Rome Declaration on Food Security and the World Food Summit Plan of Action 1996.