Pig - fish culture

Productive combination

A pig attains slaughter size after 5-6 months. Fish culture is normally done for 10-12 months. Therefore, two lots of piglets can be raised along with one harvest of fish.

A total of 4,200 kg of pig meat and 5,000-6,000 kg of fish per hectare of pond can be produced each year. Pigs are fed grasses and other green fodder and kitchen wastes at the rate of 1.5 kg per pig per day.

Pigs efficiently convert farm and kitchen refuse into manure which can be used to fertilize fish ponds. Indigenous breeds are hardy and well adapted to local conditions. Exotic breeds are more productive and gain weight faster, but require more care than indigenous breeds.

Housing

Build a pig pen with I to 1.5 sq m of floor space per animal on the pond embankment. The floor should be cemented with drainage toward the pond. About 30-40 pigs should be raised per hectare of pond area.

Selection of breeds

Quick growers and prolific exotic breeds, such as Large White, Yorkshire, Landrace, etc., are preferred. Do not allow exotic breeds outside their pen. Indigenous breeds can be allowed to forage outside, around the pond during the day. If pig rearing begins before fish stocking, it is not necessary to apply basal manure to the pond. (See Composite fish culture.)

Note

Do not allow the pig excrete into the pond if the water turns dark green.

Poultry, pigs, and fish

You can combine poultry and pig raising by housing poultry above the pig pens. The poultry droppings and spilled feed fall through a slatted floor into the pig pen. The pig droppings can be washed into the pond.

Sources: Dr. S. D. Tripathi, Dr. B.K. Sharma and Dr. Manak K. Das