Sustainable rice-prawn farming system in Kole lands of Kerala India

Salin K.R., . and C. Mohanakumaran Nair, . and Sebastian S.D., . (2009) Sustainable rice-prawn farming system in Kole lands of Kerala India. [Proceedings Paper]

The Kole lands in Kerala represent a unique wetland system where paddy - fish rotational farming has been successfully practiced for several years. Paddy fields in Kole lands extend in area from 20 to 400 ha with flood protection bunds and central feeder canals that regulate intake water supply by gravity through sluice gates. Extensive farming of the giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii has been successful in these fields. About 10 of the field area is separated by net fence or earthen bunds at the beginning of prawn culture to form a nursery where postlarvae PL or tank-reared juveniles are grown for 30 - 40 days. In net pens as nurseries prawn PL are stocked at high densities of 100 000 to 300 000 ha while in earthen nurseries the stocking density is lower ranging from 10 000 to 100 000 ha. Supplementary feeding for prawns with crumble feed of 30 protein ia limited to nursery phase alone. The juveniles are released into the entire field after nursery rearing at a stocking density of 5 000 - 12 000 prawns ha together with carp fingerlings of 7 - 10 cm size 1 000 - 2 500 ha where the animals on most occasions are left to utilise the natural productivity of the pond feeding on periphyton benthic flora and fauna detritus and aquatic macrovegetation. By October-November when the prawns have grown to 20-150 g 150-250 kg ha and fish 1.5-2 kg 125-200 kg ha the field is harvested by dewatering which normally takes 15 to 30 days for complete draining. Meanwhile a major portion of the stock especially large fish and prawn is caught using gill nets set at various places in the field. When the water level recedes the fish and prawns congregate into the inner canals or into the deeper portion of the field from where they are harvested using drag nets or specially made bag nets. Koi carp is a valuable addition to the farming in Kole lands and grow to 1.5-2 kg in 6 months providing a significant additional income. Preliminary results of the economics of Kole land farming which is a good model for sustainable paddy-prawn integrated system is presented in this paper.

Full text available from:

Abstract

The Kole lands in Kerala represent a unique wetland system where paddy - fish rotational farming has been successfully practiced for several years. Paddy fields in Kole lands extend in area from 20 to 400 ha with flood protection bunds and central feeder canals that regulate intake water supply by gravity through sluice gates. Extensive farming of the giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii has been successful in these fields. About 10 of the field area is separated by net fence or earthen bunds at the beginning of prawn culture to form a nursery where postlarvae PL or tank-reared juveniles are grown for 30 - 40 days. In net pens as nurseries prawn PL are stocked at high densities of 100 000 to 300 000 ha while in earthen nurseries the stocking density is lower ranging from 10 000 to 100 000 ha. Supplementary feeding for prawns with crumble feed of 30 protein ia limited to nursery phase alone. The juveniles are released into the entire field after nursery rearing at a stocking density of 5 000 - 12 000 prawns ha together with carp fingerlings of 7 - 10 cm size 1 000 - 2 500 ha where the animals on most occasions are left to utilise the natural productivity of the pond feeding on periphyton benthic flora and fauna detritus and aquatic macrovegetation. By October-November when the prawns have grown to 20-150 g 150-250 kg ha and fish 1.5-2 kg 125-200 kg ha the field is harvested by dewatering which normally takes 15 to 30 days for complete draining. Meanwhile a major portion of the stock especially large fish and prawn is caught using gill nets set at various places in the field. When the water level recedes the fish and prawns congregate into the inner canals or into the deeper portion of the field from where they are harvested using drag nets or specially made bag nets. Koi carp is a valuable addition to the farming in Kole lands and grow to 1.5-2 kg in 6 months providing a significant additional income. Preliminary results of the economics of Kole land farming which is a good model for sustainable paddy-prawn integrated system is presented in this paper.

[error in script]

Item Type:	Proceedings Paper
Additional Information:	Available at Perpustakaan Sultan Abdul Samad Universiti Putra Malaysia 43400 UPM Serdang Selangor Malaysia. SH380.62 M3I61 2008
AGROVOC Term:	Farming systems
AGROVOC Term:	Fish farming
AGROVOC Term:	Paddy
AGROVOC Term:	Freshwater
AGROVOC Term:	Freshwater prawns and shrimps
AGROVOC Term:	Prawns and shrimps
AGROVOC Term:	Periphyton
AGROVOC Term:	Macrobrachium rosenbergii
Geographical Term:	MALAYSIA
Depositing User:	Ms. Suzila Mohamad Kasim
Last Modified:	24 Apr 2025 05:14
URI:	http://webagris.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/11917

Actions (login required)

View Item