Integrated aquaculture-agriculture Fish culture and plant crops module for arid areas

WorldFish

Introduction

This guide explains the integration between fish culture and conventional crop agriculture and discusses how farmers can maximize benefits from using these resources. The main concept for any system of integration is that the outputs of one organism or system function as a source of inputs for another organism or system. For fish farmers, this concept applies to the relationship between fish and crops, as the outputs of the fish can be a rich source of nutrients for corps.

An integrated aquaculture-agriculture system has the following advantages:

■ Talking water used for fish farming and reusing it to irrigate crops optimizes water use.

■ Aquaculture-agriculture integration is environmentally friendly, as corps benefit from nutrients in the water. This minimizes the amount of additional fertilizers and thus cost. Using nutrients discharged from fish culture units also helps reduce environmental impact.

■ Producing fish in remote and rural areas, away from traditional fish farming and fishing sits, reduces transportation costs and provides fresh fish for consumers.

■ A small-scale farm can use this system for either home or local consumption, or both, as it is possible to produce more than one agriculture products in a relatively remote areas where getting fresh animal food may not be available.

■ It is possible to produce organic food products that have a higher market value compared to traditional crops as fish generate organic fertilizer waste to that can be used in crop fertilization.

This guide focuses on integration between fish and crops. However, farmers can introduce several other models, including livestock and poultry, in proportion to their integrated system to maximize benefits from all outputs and to increase profitability (Figure 1). When designing an integrated aquaculture-agriculture farm, it is important to consider the water requirements for growing crops, the volume of the fish culture unit and the targeted fish production.

Contents

1. Agricultural land

2. Optimal crop composition

3. Water requirements for plants

4. Agricultural and aquaculture in arid areas

5. Irrigation strategies and consideration

6. Designing a fish culture unit

7. Fish culture

8. Fish nutrition

9. Water management in fishponds

10. Fish health

11. Fish harvesting and post-harvest procedures

12. Marketing

References

Appendix 1 . Water requirement for crops in Egypt

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 Prep. / Ayman Ashry

Manage. / Mona Mahmoud