Assessment of the
aquaculture subsystem in integrated agriculture-aquaculture systems in
Northeast Thailand
J. Pant, H. Demaine, P. Edwards-2004
Aquaculture
Research, 35(3):
289-298
Abstract:
A survey of integrated agriculture-aquaculture systems
(IAAS) was carried out in four different agroecologies, an irrigated and
three rainfed agroecologies (drought-prone, rainfed lowland and rolling
land), in Northeast region of Thailand, of tropical wet:dry climate. Fish
culture system of IAAS varied with agroecology but not with the length of
farmers' experience in IAAS farming. The size of pond holdings in the
rainfed lowland agroecology was estimated to be significantly smaller (P</=0.05)
than in the three other agroecologies. The highest average extrapolated
gross fish yield of 2.3 tonnes ha-1 was recorded in the
irrigated agroecology and this was significantly higher (P</=0.01)
than in the three rainfed agroecologies: drought-prone (1.1 tonnes ha-1),
rainfed lowland (0.5 tonnes ha-1) and rolling land (0.4 tonnes ha-1).
Higher fish yield in the irrigated agroecology was associated with longer
stocking period and higher amount of pond inputs. Average income of IAAS
households from fish also varied across agroecology in a fashion that was
noted for yields. However, the farm pond played a pivotal role in the
diversification of the farming system in rainfed agroecologies, as it was
essentially the only source of water supply for fruit and vegetables
production. While fish culture in all agroecologies was a low-input system,
intensification through fertilization of ponds with chemical fertilizers can
be envisaged to increase fish production in IAAS in Northeast Thailand.
(Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Central
Campus, Tribhuvan University, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal. E-mail: jharendu@hotmail.com)