Dr. C. V. Singh, Prof. & Head

DEPARTMENT OF GENETICS & ANIMAL BREEDING&

Joint Director, Instructional Dairy Farm

COLLEGE OF VETERINARY & ANIMAL SCIENCESG.B. PANT UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE & TECH.,

PANTNAGAR – 263 145, U.S. NAGAR (UA)

INTEGRATED FISH-LIVESTOCK FARMING SYSTEM

The present economic pressure for maximizing food production and minimizing production cost with a general concern for energy conservation has led to an approach of integrating fish farming with animal husbandry.

The integration of fish culture with livestock, holds a considerable potential for augmenting production of animal protein, generation of employment opportunities in the rural areas and improvement of socio-economic condition of the farmers.

Integrated farming activity has opened new horizons of increasing production per unit area at low inputs through an increased interest in utilization of animal manures as a substitute of high cost of major inputs (fish feed and inorganic fertilizer) involved in aquaculture.

It is a multi commodity farming system with the waste recycling as the key feature and fish culture as the major activity.

Livestock cum Fish culture: The use of animal waste to fertilize fish ponds leads to greater fish

yield, as the manure provides active nutrients (NPK) for the metabolic cycle in the ponds and promotes the growth of plankton which is natural food for fish.

The use of animal waste to fertilize fish ponds leads to greater fish yield, as the manure provides active nutrients (NPK) for the metabolic cycle in the ponds and promotes the growth of plankton which is natural food for fish.

Status of livestock in India:

India has some of the best breeds of dairy, draught and dual purpose cattle. In spite of a large number of breeds, more than 80% of cattle belong to nondescript type.

Indian breeds of cattle are better adapted to with stand tropical diseases and are more efficient converters of low quality feeds and fodders.

At present cattle population of India is about 185.181 million (livestock censees 2003) of which 160.495 (86.679%) million of them are indigenous and 24.686 (13.33%) million are crossbreds.

In 2003 cattle contributed 34973000 tonnes of milk, 15615000 tonnes (44.64%) from crossbred and 19358000 tonnes (55.35%) from indigenous cattle.

Breeds of cattle:

There are currently 26 recognized breeds of cattle which have been classified as follows.A. Milch breeds (5):

Gir, Sahiwal , Red Sindhi, Rathi and TharparkarB. Dual purpose breeds (7):

Nimari, Dangi, Hariana, Ongole, Kankrej and Mewati. (Kosi)C. Darught Breeds (14):

Nagori, Bachaur, Kankatha, Malvi, Kherigarh, Hallikar, Amritmahal, Khillari, Bargur, Kangayam, Panwar, Siri, Gaolao and Krishnavally.

In addition to above defined breeds some other cattle breeds/strains have been reported by the different state government. These are-

Punganur, Red Kandhari, Vechur, Bhagnari, Denani, Lohani, Rajhan, Bengal, Chittgong Red, Nepalese Hill, Kachocha, Siri, Tarai, Lulu, Sinhala, Umblacherry, Ganga Teri etc.

A number of new breeds have been evolved from crossbred base involving different exotic and native cattle breeds. These are Sunandani in Kerala, Karan Swiss and Karanfries at NDRI Karnal, Frieswal in military dairy farms spread all over India.

Gir

Sahiwal

Miltch Breeds

Contd..

Red Sindhi

Tharparkar Contd..

Rathi

Nimari

Dangi

Dual purpose Breeds

Contd..

Hariana

Contd..Mewati

Ongole

KankrejContd..

Nagori

Draught Breeds

BachaurContd..

Kankatha

Contd..Malvi

Contd..

Kherigarh

Amritmahal

Contd..

Khillari

Bargur

Contd..

Kangayam

Gaolao

Panwar

Krishnavally

Punganur

Some other Cattle Breeds

Red Kandhari Contd..

Vechur

Siri Contd..

Deoni

Guidelines for selection of a diary cow:

Selection should be done based upon breed characteristics, fertility and milk producing ability.

History sheet or pedigree sheet which are generally maintained in organized forms reveals the complete history of animal.

So, whenever an animal is purchased form a cattle fair, it should be selected based upon its breed characters and milk producing ability.

The maximum yield by dairy cows are noticed during the first five lactations. So generally selection should be carried out during I or II lactation and that too are month after calving.

There successive complete milkings has to be done and an average of it will give a fair idea regarding production by a particular animal.

A cow should allow anybody to milk, and should be docile it is better to purchase the animals during the months of October and November. Maximum yield is noticed till 90 days after calving.

Breed characteristics of high yielding dairy cows :

Attractive individuality with feminity, vigour, harmonious blending of all parts, impressive style and carriage.

Animal should have wedge shaped appearance of the body

It should have bright eyes with lean neck

The udder should be well attached to the abdomen

The skin of the udder should have a good network of blood vessels

All four quarters of the udder should be well demarcated with well placed teats.

Selection of she – buffaloes for milk production:

When you purchase buffaloes for milk production we have to select healthy animal known for economic milk production. We have to take following steps in selecting a dairy animal.

Body confirmation

Body weight

Ancestors performance

Reproduction capacity

Health condition

Age

No. of lactations

Past performance of the animal

Free of chronic disease

Cleanliness of teeth, legs and toes free of injuries

Good eye site

Whether animal is dry or lactating

Date of delivery

Month of pregnancy

If non-pregnant, how many times it came into heat

Animal should follow owners instructions

The udder should be in good shape and easy to milk

The animal should not have the following:

Poor growth

Late maturity

Not coming into heat

Repeat breeder

Long gap between two lactations

Uncurable chronic diseases

Retained placenta

Low milk production

Unable to give milk without calf

Housing of Dairy Cattle: The basic justification for animal shelter is that it should alter or

modify the environment for the benefit of animals enclosed in it.

The animal shelter should normally buffer the extremes of climatic conditions to reduce peak “stress” on the animals housed.

Design considerations for animal houses:

Animal houses should be located in an elevated area with good drainage facility.

Direct sunlight shouldn’t fall into the shed.

Sufficient green cover should be there around the sheds.

Sufficient open area should present around the animal shed for free movement of animals.

Construction of an ideal cattle shed:

Each animal should be provided 1 – 1.2 mt. width and 1.5 – 1.7 mt. length as standing space.

Sufficient space should be provided for each animal in the shed or

else it may lead to fighting among them. For e.g. For 5 cows the length and width of the shed should be 6 mt and 2.5 mt respectively.

It should have an open area of about 8 mt length and 6 mt width. Fencing or compound wall can be constructed around the shed.

Floor:

It should be impervious, non-slippery free from holes and crevices. It must have proper slope.

The material of the floor should preferably of cement concrete.

Roof:

The roof should be small and simple.

The roofing materials should preferably be asbestos sheet or galvanized iron sheets.

The roof should be 8’ high at sides and 15’ high at center. The height at eares is 3’.

If iron sheets are used as roofing materials them cover it with grass during summer season.

Manger: A continuous manger is constructed so that it can accommodate all the

animals.

The height, depth and width of the manger should be 60, 50 and 40 cm respectively for each animal.

It can be constructed by using cement and brick or by cement concrete.

Gutter:

The width and depth of the gutter should be 30 cm and 7.5 cm respectively.

Generally the drainage should directly be connected to the fodder plots or under integrated system to the fish ponds.

Cattle – fish farming:

Fish farming can become more production oriented if integrated with cattle farming. Cattle are allowed to graze on pond banks and grassy areas in the vicinity and manure is either collected or washed directly from the cattle sheds into the ponds.

It has been proved that in the composite fish culture when the ponds are manured with cow dung @ 15,000 kg/ha/year, an excellent yield of 5,000kg fish/ha/year can be obtained.

Fertilization of nurseries and rearing ponds with cow dung is a widespread practice in India. However, there is a strong need to standardize the number of animals required to provide manure per unit area of fish ponds.

It has been estimated that fresh cow dung manure voided by two cows is sufficient of fertilize one hectare of pond area.

Potential linkages between livestock and fish production:

The term nutrient mainly refers to elements such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) which function as fertilizers to stimulate natural food webs rather than conventional livestock nutrition usage such as ingredients.

Solid slaughter house wastes fed to carnivorous fish fall into the latter category.

There are also implications for use of other resources such as capital,

labour, space and water.

Direct use of livestock production wastes is the most widespread and conventionally recognized type of integrated farming.

Production wastes include manure urine and spilled feed and they may be used as fresh inputs or be processed in some way before use.

Contd..

Livestock processing can also provide a wide variety of wastes that vary from dilute washing water to high value meat and blood meal that can be used as high value fish feeds or feed ingredients.

A variety of aquatic plants e.g. duck weeds and the aquatic fern Azolla have proven potential as livestock feeds.

Other more minor beneficial linkages between fish and livestock production include use of fish culture water for drinking /bathing livestock and cooling livestock housing.

Nutrients contained in culture water and sediments may be used to produce arable crops for livestock.

The viability of these options depends on a variety of factors including the types of livestock and fish that can be raised profitably and the production systems used.

Relevance of fish and livestock farming:

On a global basis most cultured fresh water fish are produced in Asia in semi-intensive systems that depend on fertilizer nutrients.

For multi purpose use of water resources community water bodies used for watering livestock are increasingly stocked with fish seed and their management intensified.

Several studies indicate that livestock wastes are most commonly used input, livestock wastes purposely used in ponds or draining into them, support the production of most cultured fish in India.

Main and secondary linkages in livestock-fish integration (P = processing)

Trends in those parts of Asia which are undergoing rapid industrialization and urbanization suggest that livestock fish systems can retain a relative advantage over intensive aquaculture for production of low cost carps and tilapias.

A strong link to the use of livestock wastes remains even when high quality supplementary feeds are available and widely used.

Sustainability of fish and livestock system:

Important questions relate to the role of integration of aquaculture with live stock to improve sustainability of food production in socially and economically advantageous ways while safeguarding or improving the environment.

How livestock and fish improve the sustainability of farming systems System attribute Livestock Fish Notes

Nutrient recycling

Feeding crop byproducts such as ricebran and terrestrial and aquatic plants to livestock increases recycling of nutrients within the farm. Pigs are used particularly for this purpose in parts of China and SE Asia

Nutrients from other sub-systems in the farm are retained in fishpond sediments and water and can be used for crop production

Use of livestock wastes in fishponds may be the most practical way to reduce nutrient losses, especially N

Nutrient concentration

Feeding off- and on-farm feeds can allow concentration of nutrients, and act as a pathway for nutrients to be cost -effectively gathered or harvested from common property. Ruminants are important for this aspect of enhanced sustainability

Natural and stocked fish can harvest nutrients from common property for direct human food or use in livestock diets

Overgrazing of common land by ruminants may lead to deterioration, increased erosion and declining sustainability of the surrounding watershed or ecosystem

Diversity Most small-holder farms manage a range of livestock that utilize the variety of feed resources available. Important advantages include pest control, recycling, manageability, economic reasons (risk aversion and cash flow)

Efficiency of polycultures within aquatic systems in exploiting the range of aquatic niches. Control of livestock and human pests with an aquatic phase within the life cycle

Increasing diversity of livestock and fish may complement or compete within the farming system. Whereas increased amounts of monogastric waste are valuable for planktivorous fish, grass carp and ruminants may compete for limited amounts of grass Contd..

Stability (resistance to change)

Livestock are a stabilizing influence, reducing perturbation on households during time of physical or social stress. Their variety of uses (draught, fertilizer, social value, fuel, cash, food) allows smallholders to better maintain productivity when faced with change

Maintenance of a water body necessary to raise fish improves the stability of water availability for the whole farming system

Livestock can be a contributing factor to destabilization, especially through deforestation, overstocking and soil erosion

Capacity Livestock waste improves soil quality and fertility; grazing can improve species richness and reduce soil erosion

Increased water and nutrient holding improves productive capacity around the pond. Sealing of pond traps nutrients and prevents loss to ground water

Fertile ponds may not contaminate groundwater significantly but more research is needed

Economic efficiency

Livestock products are often the major source of cash in smallholder systems. Having a variety of livestock types improves versatility with respect to investment, cash flow and risk aversion

Small individual size of fish often improves local marketability. Polyculture and perennial water increases opportunities for strategic marketing

Returns to labour are often attractive for livestock and fish production, and integration is particularly favourable. Integration reduces market risk and improves flexibility

Evolvability Dominance of commercial livestock systems threatens the scope for small-holder production to change in response to demand

Aquaculture systems are generally recent and are evolving rapidly around resources and markets. The dominance of small-holder compared to commercial production, and importance of aquaculture and fisheries as suppliers of fish, are major issues with policy implications

Concept coined by Pullin (1993) to describe the scope for future change of any system