Integrated fish-pig farming (1000 sq meter unit: India)

Fish-pig farming material flow

The raising of pigs can fruitfully be blended with fish culture by constructing animal housing units on the pond embankment or over the pond in such a way that the wastes are directly drained into the pond. The system has obvious advantages:

· The pig dung acts as excellent pond fertilizer and raises the biological productivity of the pond and consequently increases fish production.

· Some of the fishes feed directly on the pig excrete which contains 70% digestible food for the fish.

· No supplementary feed is required for the fish culture which normally accounts for 60% of the total input cost in conventional fish culture.

· The pond dikes provide space for erection of animal housing units.

· Pond water is used for cleaning the pigsties and for bathing the pigs.

· The system cannot be adopted in all parts of India due to religious consideration but it has special significance in certain specific areas as it can improve the socioeconomic status of weaker rural communities, especially the tribals who traditionally raise pigs and can take up fish-pig farming easily.

CULTURE PRACTICES

The ponds measuring about 1000 sq m may be located near your house, so that you can take care of the fish and pigs and can discourage poaching.

Check and repair the dikes. The pond should be deep enough so as to retain more than one meter water depth during the dry period.

POND PREPARATION

Drain and dry the pond to remove all the weeds and fish fauna remaining in the pond. If it is not possible to drain the pond, all the fish can be killed by applying 15 kg of both bleaching powder and urea for a 1000 sq m pond. Alternatively, 250 kg Mahua oil cake can be applied which kills all the fishes and also acts as organic pond fertilizer.

Pigs are brought to the pond before stocking the fish, so no basal application of manure is required.

STOCKING

Stock the pond with fingerlings 7 days after poisoning with bleaching powder. The recommended rate of stocking is:

6 Species

Catla	160
Rohu	160
Mrigal	120
Silver carp	160
Grass carp	90
Common carp	120
TOTAL	800

3 species

Catla	320
Rohu	240
Mrigal	240
TOTAL	800

6 species

Alterations can be made on stocking density and species ratio, depending upon the local conditions.

Grass carp should be fed regularly with aquatic or terrestial vegetation. Liming of pond is done at regular intervals. It helps in stabilization of organic matter. About 25 kg lime shall be required for one year.

HARVESTING

Due to abundance of natural food in the fish-pig pond, the fish attains marketable size within a few months. Partial harvesting, therefore, should be done 3 times depending upon the growth of fish and the final harvesting may be done after 10-12 months.

PIG RAISING

The number of pigs required will depend upon the pond area. The exereta of 3 pigs is sufficient to fertilize a pond of 1000 sq m. So, 3 pigs may be raised on a pond of 0.1 ha. As pigs attain slaughter size within 5-6 months and fish raising of Indian exotic carp is done for 10-12 months, two lots of pigs can be raised a long with one lot of fish.

Sample illustration of pig sty located on a pond dike

Illustration showing sloping floor

The pigsties are constructed on the pond embankments in such a way that the washings are drained to the pond through a delivery channel. A diversion channel is always provided to divert the excrete away from the ponds as the pond develops algal bloom or any other abnormality. Washings of pigsties are drained into the pond after sunrise to avoid oxygen depletion.

Calendar of activities for fish-pig farming

The pigsties can be constructed from any available cheap materials but the floor must be cemented with a slope towards the pond. Each pig is provided with a floor space of 1-1.5 sq m2.

Rupee budget of fish-pig farming in 0.1 ha pond.

Input	Rs
COSTS
Fish culture
Pond preparation with 15 kg bleaching powder and15 kg urea at 4.15/kg	125
Fingerlings (850 at 250/1000)	213
Liming (25 kg at 2/kg)	50
Nets and labor for harvesting	400
Fish culture equipment	25
Pond rental	300
	1,113
Pig raising
Pigsties	1,000
Fattening of two lots of piglets for six months each
a) First lot
Weaned piglets (3 at 30 each	90
Pig feed (540 kg at 2/kg)	1,080
b) Second lot	1,170
Medicine	40
	2,360
TOTAL COST	3,473
Interest on the working capital @ 15%	521
TOTAL OPERATIONAL COST	3,994
INCOME
Fish sale (600 kg at 20/kg)	12,000
Meat sale (300 kg live weight at 17/kg)	5,100
	17,100
Balance	13,106

Cash flow for integrated fish-pig farming For 0.1 ha. Pond.

	AUG.	SEPT.	OCT.	NOV.	DEC.	JAN.	FEB.	Mar.	APR.	MAY.	JUNE	JULY
Inflow	0	0	0	0	+2000	+2550	0	+2000	0	+2000	0	+8550
Outfkow	-1402	-375	-162	-172	-252	-262	-272	-262	-262	-262	-182	-111
Netflow	-1402	1777	-1939	-2111	-363	+1905	+1633	+3371	+3109	+4847	4667	+13106

* Cash inflow starts from December when the fish partial harvesting is done.
** Harvesting of 1 st lot of pigs increases the cash inflow in January.
*** Cash inflow in March. May is due to second and third partial harvesting fish.

Calendar of activities for fish-pig farming

August	Pond preparation, erection of pigsties, raising of piglets
September	Stocking fingerlings, fattening and care of pigs
October	Fattening and care of pigs and fish culture
November	Fattening and care of pig and fish culture
December	First partial harvesting of fish
January	Harvesting of first lot of pigs
Febnuary	Fattening of second lot of pigs
March	Second partial harvesting of fish
April	Fattening of pig and fish
May	Third partial harvesting of fish
June	Preparation for final harvesting of pigs and fish
July	Final harvesting of fish and second lot of pigs

Prepared by: S.D. TRIPATHI & B.K. SHARMA FARMER-PROVEN INTEGRATED AGRICULTURE-AQUACULTURE: A TECHNOLOGY INFORMATION KIT (IIRR-ICLARM)