A project of Volunteers in Asia

By:FAO Better Farming Series

Published by. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Publications Division Via delle Terme di Caracalla 00100 Rome Italy

Availabic from: UNIPUB 4611 -F Assembiy Drive Lanham MD 20706-4391 U.S.A.

Reproduced with permission. Reprudxtion of this microfiche document in afry form is subject to the same restrictions as those of the original document.

BETTER FAR

Thirty titles have been published irl this series, designed as handbooks for a two-year intermediate-level agricultural eductition and training course. They may be purchased as a set or as individual documents.

FIRST YEAR

::

3. 4. 5. 6. 7. a. 9.

The plant: the living plant; the root The plant: the stem; the buds; the leaves The plant: the flower The soil: how the soil is made up The soil: how to conserve the soil The soil: how to improve the soil Crop farming Animal husbandry: feeding and care of animals Animal husbandry: animal diseases; how animals 1eproduce

SECOND 10. 11. 12. 13. ;4. 15. 16. 17. ia. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30.

YEAR

The farm business survey Cattle breeding Sheep and goat breeding Keeping chickens Farming with animal power Cereals Roots and tubers Groundnuts Bananas Market gardening Upland rice Wet paddy or swamp rice Cocoa Coffee The oil palm The rubber tree The modern farm business Freshwater fish farming: how to begin Water: where water comes from Freshwater fish farming: the pond Better freshwater fish farming: the fish

-69 I

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..................
What Why What How is fish farming? ......... do we raise fish? ........ do you need to raise fis do we begin? ..........
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

14 14 16 16 21 21 22 24

Where to put your fish pou Compost to fertilize your pond . . How to dig your pond . . . . . . .
The wager ....................

Filling your pond ............ Fertilizing the water in the pond . How to make compost ........
utting the fish into your p fish . . . . . . . . . . . . .

27
30 32 33 34 35

ing your

care of your ~~~~ arwestiilg your Cis .

. . . . .

What to do with your baby fish What to do with your big fish

39
42

ntr

ctio

Read paragraphs

1 to 15.

By raising fish you can get bettar food and for yourself and your family. ut to do this you will have to take good care of your pond and your fish.

Building

your

Read paragraphs

16 to 45.

Your success in fish farming depends on where you put your pond and how you build It. Ask your extension agent to visit your land and give you advice. He can aiso advise you about building your corn

Read paragraphs

46 to 66.

You need rich land to have a goo 3

---

--

every week.

is

Read paragraphs

67 to 76.

To know the best kind of fis to put into your pond, ask your extension agent or other farmers who are raising fish. Ro not put too many fish in your pond. Handle baby fish carefully to keep them strong.

iing your fish

Read paragraphs

77 to 83.

Feed your fish every day, and watch them while t If they are healthy they will eat very quickly. Give them enough to eat, but not too much.

Read paragraphs

84 to

You must take care of your cro You must take care of yo

Read paragraphs

91 to 112.

Harvesting your fish will be a big feast for your family and friends. Be sure you have everything ready.

Do not forget to keep some baby fish alive so that you can start again. e ready to use the big fish or to preserve them or to take them to the market.

Read paragraphs

113 to 119.

Paragraphs 69 to 71 will tell you how many baby fish you will need. When you have begun, try to do better than the first time.

A~iswer the question

paper. 5

3.

fish ily strong like clicker, sheep alp oat. a

6.

But fish farming is not easy. To raise fish is as hard work as to raise anything else, such as maize, rice, cassava or groundnuts.

7.

You will need to learn to do many things.

What do you need to raise

fis

8.

You will need a piece of land where you can build a pond,

baby fish to begin,

food for your fish.

9.

You will need time to buil and to care for it regularly. Fish farming takes a lot of time. 9

10.

If there is a fish culture station near where you live you may be nble to get help from an extension agent.

11.

If there is no extension agent you will need to learn many things You will need to know the type of soil best for your pond, how to dig your pond,

by yourself.

12.

how to fill it with water,

how to fertilize

it.

_-

-.--

_ __. . . - _ _. --.-

13.

will need to know what kind of fish to raise,

You

Tilapia

nilotica

how to put the baby fish into your pond,

what to feed your fish, how to feed them.

14.

You will need to knov* how lo take care of the pond,

how to drain it,

how to harvest the fish,

how to use your own baby fish to start again.

/--

--_- __

.-

13

me to put yaw fish pond

16. 17. You must choose a good place to put your pond. Remember that a pond for fish is only one use for your land. Be careful not to build a pond on land that could be better used for something else. It is best to choose a piece of land that has a gentle slope. Do not build your pond on a steep hill or where it can be flooded in the rainy season. Choose a sunny place for your pond, close to your home so people wiii not come and take your fish away.

18. 19.

20.

Near your home It is also easier to take care of the fish. 14

21.

The pond should be near water such as a stream or a spring, or in marshy ground where the water in the soil will fill up your pond.

:.,

..

.,

22. 23.

The soil in the place you choose must be good for a fish pond. To test if you have good soil, take a handful of soil from the surface and squeeze it into a ball. Throw the bail of soil into the air and catch it.

24.

25. 26.

If it sticks together it is good soil and will hold water well. Bad with will and soil sand or gravel in it not stick together will not hold water. 15

27.

Now dig a hole as deep as your waist and test the soil from the bottom of the hole in the same way as before.

28.

If the soil from the surface is good, and the soil from the bottom is good, this is a good place to dig your pond.
to fertilize your pond

Compost

29.

You will need compost to fertilize your pond. To make a good compost pile will take one month, so you should start making it before you dig your pond. Later this book will tell you how to make compost (see 56-66)
to dig your pond

How 30.

Mark out the size of the pond on the ground you have chosen. Each side should be about I4 metres long, 10 metres for the pond and 2 metres for each bank of the pond.

16

31.

Clear this area of all trees, bushes and grass and take away all the roots. Take away 20 centimetres of topsoil from all the cleared area and put it aside. Now you can dig your pond. The bottom of the pond should be even and sloped toward the deep end. In the shallow end, the water in the pond will have to be about knee-deep. In the deep end, it will have to be waist-deep.

32.

33. 34. 35.

36.

37.

As you dig the soil out, put it on the %metre strips to be the banks of the pond.
17

38.

Do not make the sides too steep, but slope them to make them stronger.

39.

Compact the soil as you take it out, to make banks strong enough to stop the water from pushing them out. The banks must be watertight. You will need to make an inlet at the shallow end above the water level to fill your pond.

40.

41.

At the deep end you will need to make an outlet to keep the banks from overflowing if there is too much water in the pond.
18

3.

45.

It is good if other farmers build ponds beslde yours. It is easier if others help you in fish farming, and one bank can be used between two ponds.

20

7.

49.

As a screen you can use:

50.

To stop other people from taking fish from your pond, you can put some bamboo branches on the pond bottom. This will stop them from fishing or taking fish with a net.

51.

Now you are ready to fill your pond with water.

52.

To make more food in the water for the fish you will need to fertilize the pond. You can do this by adding compost.
22

\.,

,_

-~-,

1__1_. s^ ,.I M
12 8 15 16

F -....-x 13

s 14

2 2

2"

56.

Make a compost pile near the pond. Put it in a shady place protected from rain.

.. n

57.

Make your pile in layers. Make the first layer of grass or leaves mixed with a spadeful of topsoil, and damp it with water to make it rot faster Then make a second layer of animal mixed with a spadeful of topsoil and some water. manure

58

animal grass

manure or leaves \

59.

Use animal manure from sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, chickens or ducks. 24

60.

In place of animal manure you can also use cotton see spoiled fruit, household garbage, ashes from the fireplace or night soi I.

..

61.

Then make another layer of grass or leaves, and another of manure, until you have a large pile.

62.

eep your co y watering i

63.

rot

_----__
T W T

64.

Take compost from the ~~ttorn of t or the old part of the pile, where it is most rotte to put in your

65. 66.

Add new layers to your pile every wee so that you will always have compost. If you have too much co you can use some to fertilize your Ian

67. 68.

The first time you stock your pond you will need to find some baby fish. You can get them from a ;ish-culture station

or from another fish farmer. 69. If you use ?ilapia nilotica you will need two baby fish for each square metre. If each side of the pond is 10 metres long (100 square metres) you will need 200 fish (about 2 kilograms or 5 pounds).

TilarJia nilotica

27

70.

Be careful not to put too many fish in your pond. Stocking a fish pond is like planting a field. lf plants are too close together they grow badly. If there there are too many fish in your pond they will grow badly, too, and they will stay small.

71.

If you want to use a different fish, ask your extension agent for help. Before you put the baby fish in the pond, be sure that the water where they are is not hotter or colder than the water in the pond. You can find this out by putting one of your hands in the water with the fish and the other in the pond. If one is hotter or colder slowly put water from the pond in the water with the fish until they are both the same.
28

72.

73.

74.

75.

tf you do not the fish may when you put them in t

76.

\ \ right

29

77. 78.

Feed your fish every day. You can give them many things to eat. You can give them termites cassava leaves and cassava wastes grain mill sweepings rice bran beer wastes cotton seed pounded in a mortar slaughterhouse wastes spoiled fruit kitchen waste

79.

Feed your fish in the shallow part of the pond so that you can see them eat.

83.

-- .-

34

84. 85. 86. 87.

You must take care of your pond every day when you take food to your fish. Be sure the pond is full of water. Be sure the screens are in place so that your fish cannot get avvay. Do not let weeds cover more than one quarter of the surface. If there are too many pull them up. Cut the weeds and grass on the banks of the pond. Be sure the water is not leaking through the banks. If you find leaks stop them up right away with good soil. Get rid of birds, frogs, turtles, rats and snakes. They can hurt your fish.

88. 89.

90.

32

91.

92.

93. 94.

e fish early i ave some water%

e water

96. 97.

Drain the pond by opening at the deep end.

the bank

Use a screen at the outlet while you are draining so that you will not lose any fish. Use baskets or nets to take the fish out of the water while the pond is being drained.

98.

to do with your beky

99. As soon as you find baby fish, put them gently into containers with clean water.

100.

You will need these baby fish to put back into your popd to begin again. Baby fish are the fish farmers

seed.

10-i.

Keep them in clean water, out of the sun, and move the water around gently with your hand from time to time. 34

2.

107.

Use fish to f

each of you will

have to eat.

108.

You can sell part of your harvest to neighbours or at the market, either fresh or preserved. To transport you should: fresh fish to market,

109.

rinse them well

in clear water

36

put them in a clean and dry container

cover them with fresh leaves or a mat, and

keep them out of the sun.

110.

A fresh fish will keep better if you remove its guts and rinse it with clean water.

111.

To preserve the fish you cannot sell or eat quickly, dry them in the sun,

or smoke them.

I 12.

By putting some salt on your fish while you are drying or smoking them you will preserve your fish better. 38

sa

r-as

115.

Fill the pond with water as Be sure to use a screen to keep out ba

116.

Put compost

in the crib.

117.

Then put 200 of your baby fish

back in the pond.

118.

If you have more baby fish than you need, sell some to a neighbour to help him start fish farming.

40

119.

You will see that by far you can provi for your famil

120.

If your family is not too you will have more fish to sell

and you and your family can live better.

Raisi ng fish will give you and your family . and more .,.... ..... ....... .

more . ..................

For your pond it is best to choose land with a

................. ............ ..................... .... slope, near to .......... and to your not be ..... .......... .............. ., .. well, .... ................. ......... Such land should ,, during the rainy season. together, it

If a ball of soil will

........ hold .....................................

Before digging your pond, you ........................

the area and you take away all ........................... ..................... and ................ of soil, ..... ..................................... .... ...

To keep out bad fish, you can use a ............... .......

To make the water better for the fish, you will add ........ ............ .... once a week.

................................................... You should handle the baby fish very ....... You will ............................................. your fish every day,

part of the pond. in the ................................. ............................... To take good care of your pond, you should look for ........ ....... .... in the banks, you should cut ........... ............ ........

......................................... , and get rid of .............. ...... .... .............................. After 5 months, you may catch ............ big fish each week. ... ................ When draining the pond, you will need ......................... to keep baby fish alive. 42 ................... .......

to raise fis as several a

t-low many baby fish will you What can you feed to your fis Yoy have now big harvest all of t you need? hen you drain your fish alive? If you cannot eat a

Foto-Tlpo-llto

SAGRAF - Napoli