Polyculture System for

Maximum Fish Production

Prof. Dr. Md. Shohidullah Miah
Dean
Collage of Agricultural Sciences

1
 Presentation
on

Polyculture of Fishes

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 The Concept of Polyculture

The concept of polyculture of fishes is the proper

utilization of all sorts of natural food available at different
depths and location in the water column in pond in order
to obtain maximum fish production per unit area.

History of Polyculture

Polyculture began in China more than 1000 years ago.

Later then, the practice has spread throughout southeast
Asia, and into other parts of the world.

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 Polyculture

 Polyculture is the practice of culturing more than one

species of fish in the same pond.

 The basic principal of polyculture is that the cultivation

of various fish species having different food habits to
maximize the total production per unit area with the
proper utilization of available food in a pond.

 There should be a compatible combination of species with

diversified feeding habit that should include
surface/column feeders to bottom feeders as well as
omnivorous to macrovegetation feeding fish species.

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 Polyculture

Fig: Illustration of polyculture system in a pond

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 Classification of fishes based on food habit

Plankton feeder
 Those fishes feed on microscopic or macroscopic floating
plants and animals called plankton feeder.

 Plankton feeder fishes are- Silver carp, Bighead carp,

Mirgal carp, Bata, Katol, Nilotica etc.

 Herbivorous
 This group of fishes feed only aquatic weeds or aquatic
vegetation.

 Herbivorous fishes are Grass crap, Rui, Rajpunti etc. 6

 Cont.
 Bottom feeders
 Those fishes primarily feed on the pond bottom, they are
bottom feeders such as Common carp, Mirror carp, Black
tilapia etc.

 They consume a variety of decaying organic matter,

aquatic organisms such as clams, insects, worms, snails,
and bacteria living in or on the sediments.

 Omnivorous
These type of fishes eat all kinds of food that are available
food in a pond.
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 Cont..

Piscivorous
 This type of fishes also known as predatory fish, because
they feed on other small fishes and must prey about
5 to 7g for consuming purposes in order to grow 1g.

 They are frequently stocked in ponds to control unwanted

reproduction, particularly in tilapia and other fishes that
enter into the pond with the water supply and compete
with stocked fishes.

 Predator fishes are stocked @ 5 to 20 fishes per 100 m2 of

pond surface area.
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 Cont..

Figure 6: Various predator fishes used in polyculture

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 Fishes with Food Habits
S.L. Species Food habits
1. Silver carp Surface feeder - Phytoplanktophagous
2. Bighead carp Surface feeder - Zooplankton feeder
3.
Catla Surface feeder - Zooplankton feeder
4. Grass carp Surface/column feeder - Macrophyte feeder
5. Predominantly column feeder - plankton and
Rui
organic debris
6. Column/bottom feeder - Plankton and soft
Thai Sarputi
aquatic weeds
7. Mrigal Bottom feeder – Detritivore
8. Common/Mirror carp Bottom feeder - Omnivore

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 Intensity of Culture Practices
Considering the level of management in fish production,
the following culture practices can be identified-
 Extensive culture
 Semi-intensive culture
 Intensive culture

 Extensive culture
i. No nutritional inputs are given to the fishes
ii. Fish rely on natural food produced in the pond
iii. Low stocking density
iv. Low fish production
v. Low production cost
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 Intensity of Culture Practices….

 Semi-intensive culture
i. Manure based culture practice.

ii. Limited use of supplementary feed

iii. Moderate stocking density

iv. Fish production higher than in extensive system

v. Moderate production cost

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 Intensity of Culture Practices….

 Intensive culture
i. Use of formulated feed meeting total nutritional
requirements

ii. Replenishment, aeration or recirculation of pond water

iii. High stocking density

iv. Highest fish production per unit area

v. High production cost

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Intensity of Culture Practices….

Fig: Intensive culture

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 Pond Management
The total package of pond management practices can be
divided into three phases viz.
1. Pre-stocking management
2. Stocking management and
3. Post-stocking management.

1. Pre-stocking management
This is actually the pond preparation phase which includes-
o Renovation of pond
o Eradication of undesirable fishes and aquatic weeds
o Liming of pond bottom and water
o Manuring of pond.
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 Pond Management…
Characteristics of ideal fish pond:
 Any sized fish can be considered fit for fish culture
 Retains at least 2 m water round the year is found to be
suitable for production of carps.
 The bottom soil of an ideal pond should be loamy to clay-
loamy.
 Soil is best for retention capacity and supports production
of natural food organisms and lower turbidity.

 The pond should be free from large trees to facilitate

maximum light

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 The pond should have well built
 High dykes all around the pond to protect from
flooding,
Prevent entry of predators
Prevent weed fishes, and
Prevent stocked fish from escaping

Eradication of undesirable fishes

This can be done either by complete dewatering the pond or
by poisoning. Some commonly toxicants are mentioned
here:
– Rotenone
– Phostoxin
– Tea seed cake
– Bleaching Powder etc.
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 Liming
Liming of a fish pond is highly recommended because
of its following advantages:
 Lime neutralizes soil acidity and prevent diurnal
fluctuations of the water from acidic to alkaline
conditions.

 Destroys fish pathogens and their intermediate life

stages

 Converts unsuitable acidic condition of water to

suitable alkaline condition

 Neutralizes iron compounds which are undesirable in

fish ponds
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 Pond Management (liming)…
• Promotes mineralization of soil which is desirable in fish
ponds;

• Settle excess dissolved organic matters and thereby reduces of

oxygen depletion;

• Acts as disinfectant and improves hygienic condition of pond.

• Lime treatment for ponds should be done before initial

manuring . To treat quick lime [CaO] is used for bottom of
pond and slacked lime [Ca(OH)2] for water.

• Lime is used @ 30–40 kg per bigha

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 Manuring of pond
The fertilizer requirement vary depending on soil
productivity levels.
Base manuring (Pre-stocking)

S.L.
Item Quantity (kg/bigha)

1.
Chicken manure (dry) 250

or
Cow dung 400

2.
Urea   10

3.
Triple Super Phosphate (TSP)    5
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 Regular (Post stocking)

S.L.
Item Quantity (kg/bigha/day)

1. Chicken manure

a. dry without rice husk   5–10

b. dry with rice husk 12–17

c. Cow dung fresh 15-20

2.
Urea        0.1       kg

3.
TSP        0.05      kg
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2. Stocking management
Transportation and stocking of fingerlings of different
species of fish in ponds are the activities to be undertaken
under stocking management phase.

2.1) Species selection

Fast growing species of fishes to be selected for polyculture.
Factors affect species selection & stocking are-
– Water temperature.
– Market value of fish.
– Pond fertilization practices.
– Feeding habits of fish.
– Potential of uncontrolled spawning in grow-out ponds.

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2.2) Stocking density:
 Rate of stocking generally depends on the biological
productivity of a pond and the amount of supplementary
feeding.

 A pond having an average water depth of 2.5m

 Stocked at the rate of 700–900 fingerlings/bigha

2.3) Species ratio

Selection of species ratio generally depends on seed
availability, market demand, nutrient status of a pond etc.

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 Pond Management…
Catal
Prawn 20%
10%
Common carp
10%
Mirgal
10%
Silver carp
20%

Rohu
30%

Fig: Pie chart of species ratio

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 Pond Management…
3. Post stocking management
 This phase includes the activities to be undertaken from
stocking of fingerlings up to the final harvesting of fish
from the pond.
 The activities are –
 Manuring
• Supplementary feeding
 Growth and health monitoring
 Water quality monitoring
 Hazard management
 Partial harvesting - restocking and final harvesting.

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3.1) Manuring
Manure is supplied for maintaining optimum level of
biological productivity in a pond throughout the culture
period.

3.2) Supplementary feeding

 The need for supplementary feeding in a polyculture pond
depends on the intensity of fish culture. It is supplied @ 4% of
body weight of total fish available in a pond.

 Oil cakes,
 Rice/wheat brans,
 Grain fodders,
 Other agricultural by-products and available slaughter house
by-products
 Blood, rumen content, viscera etc.) may be utilized as fish feed
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ingredients.
Regular sampling of fish
Proper fish production management system periodic
sampling at regular interval is very important with a view to-
• Checking the health condition of the fish;

• Monitoring the growth rate of fish;

• Estimating/survival mortality of fish in the pond

Periodic sampling of fish should be done at least once in a

month

In each sampling 10–20 fishes of every species should be

taken for growth measurement.

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3.4) Hazard management
There are many problems and constraints that often hinder fish
production. Some common hazards of fish-

• Oxygen depletion

• Pouching of fish

• Predators

• Aquatic vegetation

• Water level fluctuation

• Fish diseases and disease control

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3.5) Harvesting of fish
 Harvesting of fish means the complete removal of fish
from the pond at the end of production cycle. Silver carp,
Grass carp, Mirror carp etc. attain marketable size
(about 500 g) in 4–5 months of stocking.

 A single stocking and a single harvesting are the common

practice in existence in Bangladesh.

 The technique of partial harvesting and restocking is

now being practiced in Bangladesh and has been found
to yield better results in terms of fish production per unit
area.

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Pond Management…

Fig; Harvesting of fishes

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 Benefits of partial harvesting and stocking are:

• Allow smaller fish to grow faster

• Increase carrying capacity of a pond and thus the total

production become higher per unit area

• Farmers get some cash return from the pond within a short
period of 4–5 months.

• This encourages them to reinvest the money in improving

his production capacity

• All the trophic and spatial niches of the pond are fully
utilized throughout the culture period maximizing
production 31
Pond Management…

Fig; Partial harvesting

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Thank You
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