expert topic 1502: carp

8/9/2019 EXPERT TOPIC 1502: Carp

1/836 | INTERNATIONAL AQUAFEED | March-April 2015

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Fish andfinance:How Chinadictates thesize of yourcarp farm

by Malachi Stone, International Aquafeed

A bureau de change? What's that

got to do with the price of fish?

Quite a lot, actually. Well over

two thirds of the world's farmed

common carp is produced in China. As a

result, it is believed that the strength of the

Chinese yuan can have a significant effect on

the market price of this fish worldwide.

Now, imagine you are a carp-farmer in

India. You are well aware that the cheaper

carp is for the consumer, the less lucrative

it is for you, the producer. And therefore,

the fewer production costs you can meet.Production costs such as the price of specially-

formulated fish feeds.

Without such feeds, you are forced to rely

on whatever protein sources you can gather

from the surrounding countryside: snails,

worms, clams and insects. But even if you had

all day free to gather it, such a supply has its

limits. There's only so many bugs and slugs an

area can produce every twenty-four hours.

And so, you are caught in a classic catch-

22 situation: you will only be able to feed,and thus produce, more carp per unit area of

your pondage should the price of carp go up

significantly, providing you with a comfortable

profit-margin from which to spend on special-

ised feeds. But such a price-hike will tend to

happen only if fewer carp are being produced.

Unless, of course, the Chinese oblige you by

doing something to significantly strengthen

their own currency and so drive carp prices

up that way. Which isn’t terribly likely.

Small wonder, then, that only about 3 per-

cent of carp are currently farmed intensively

in tanks or cages.

Nevertheless, the common carp is still one

of the most widely cultured freshwater fish in

the world, accounting for about eight or nine

percent of global aquaculture production. This

percentage has remained constant over the

last few years: carp aquaculture has increased

in direct proportion to the growth in aquacul-

ture of all species worldwide.

Most carp are farmed on a less intensive

scale, in ponds in polyculture with a variety of

other fish species. The ratio of carp to other

fish can vary hugely, from a few percent toalmost all the individuals in a pond.

When it comes to breeding, the farmer

can let the fish just 'do their thing' and spawn

when they feel the urge, depositing their

fertilised eggs on artificial substrates which

are then removed to another pond before

the forgetful parents eat their own offspring

(alternatively it is the adult fish who are

transferred).

But to maximise production, a little ingenu-

ity is called for. The following 'recipe' gives a

general outline of the usual practice:

1. Take a female fish - the bigger the

better.

2. Inject her with hormones to induce ovu-

lation artificially and on a larger scale than

would occur naturally (Alternatively, the

hormone can be administered in little

balls put into the water).

3. When she's fat with eggs, scoop her out

of the water, hold her over a bucket and

give her belly a gentle squeeze.

4. Take the eggs thus collected, mix them

with sperm (likewise produced by inject-

ing hormones into one or more males)

and allow fertilisation to take place.

5. Incubate the fertilised eggs for 3 to 5

days at at least 20 degrees Celsius.

Being poikilotherms (ie, 'cold-blooded'),

carp do best in warmer climes. The eggs hatch

quicker, the juveniles and adults feed more

actively, food is converted more efficiently

to body-mass and, as a result, the fish grow

more rapidly.

Optimum growth and propagation seem

to occur between 20 and 25 degrees Celsius. Widely distributed across the globe, this

is nonetheless a fish that does best in and

around the tropics.

Source: FAO

March-April 2015 | INTERNATIONAL AQUAFEED | 37

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World freshwater fish farming produced a total of

about 50 million tonnes in 2012. The main fish

family in production was the Cyprinidae (carp

family). India is the second largest producer in the

world, a long way behind to China. Inland f ish production in India has

increased at a higher rate since 1980.

Carp is a common name for various species of freshwater fish of

the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and

Asia. Cyprinids particularly the wide variety of carp species, represent a

cheap source of protein for subsistence aquaculture in “warm” temper-

ate and subtropical countries.

Present statusIn India carp production is coming from both the systems of inland

resources i.e. capture and aquaculture.

Inland capture fisheries: The inland water resources of the country

are in terms of 29,000 km of rivers, 0.3 million ha of estuaries, 0.19 mil-

lion ha of backwaters and lagoons, 3.15 million ha of reservoirs, 0.2 mil-

lion ha of floodplain wetlands and 0.72 million ha of upland lakes, which

contributes about 1.05 million tonnes of fish annually. The 14 major, 44

medium and innumerable small rivers of the country provide for one

of the richest inland fish faunal resources of the world. The principalrivers of India as Yamuna, Ganga, Brahmaputra, Mahanandi, Godavari,

Krishna and Cauvery including their main tributaries and distributaries

harbors about 11.5 percent of the fish fauna so far know in the world.

Freshwater aquaculture: Ponds and tanks are the prime resources

for freshwater aquaculture; however, only about 40 percent of the

available area is used for aquaculture currently. Ponds in eastern India

are typically homestead ponds of less than 1 ha in size, while the water-

sheds in western India are larger covering expanses of between 15–25

ha each. In northern India, open waters with in-flows are common,

while southern India has watersheds, termed as tanks, largely used for

crop irrigation along with carp fish culture.

Carp culture forms the backbone to freshwater aquaculture practice

in India. India, as the second largest aquaculture producer in the world,

has the major contribution from freshwater aquaculture, whose share

in inland fisheries has gone up from 46 percent in the 1980s to over 85

percent in the recent years. Carp production is increasing tremendous-

ly throughout the India since 1991 and caters to the tastes of all classes

of people ranging from aristocratic urban consumers to the rural poor

(Table: 1 & Image: 1). Carp form the mainstay of aquaculture practice

in India contributing over 85 percent of the total aquaculture produc-

tion. The three Indian major carps, viz. catla (Catla catla) rohu (Labeo

rohita) and mrigal (Cirrhinus mrigala) contribute bulk of the produc-

tion in the country,

whereas the three

domesticated exotic

carp such as silver carp

(Hypophthalmichthys

molitrix), grass carp(Ctenopharyngodon

idella) and common

crap (Cyprinus car-

pio) from the second

important group.

Carp production in India:Present status and prospectsBy Dr B. Laxmappa, Fisheries Development Officer, Department ofFisheries, Mahabubnagar, India

Table 1: Carp production in India from 1991to 2010

Year

Inland fishproduction

(in tonnes)

Carpproduction

(in tonnes)

Carp fish

percent

1991 1655407 1140693 69%

2000 2828106 2008412 71%

2010 5077200 4073322 80%

38 | INTERNATIONAL AQUAFEED | March-April 2015

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To incorporate several other medium and minor carps into the

carp polyculture systems, several methods were used because of their

religion-specific consumer preference and higher market demand

besides their growth potential. Some of these included kalbasu (Labeo

calbasu), fringe-lipped carp (L. fimbriatus), bata (L. bata), Malabar labeo

(L. dussumieri), olive barb (Puntius sarana), Jerdon’s barb (P. jerdoni),

Cauvery carp (Cirrhinus cirrhosa) etc. Out of 266 carp species available

in Indian region, about 34 carp species are economical and which are

produced mainly from capture fishery, and less than 10 carp species

are produced from both the aquaculture and capture fishery in the

country (Table: 2).

The research and development efforts during last six decades

have placed the carps farming as an importance economic enterprise

revolutionised the fresh water aquaculture section to the level of a

fast growing industry. The nation mean the production levels from

still-water ponds as gone up from about 600 Kg/ha/year in 1974 to

over 2.5 tonnes /ha /year at present, and several farmers are even

demonstrating higher production levels of eight to 12 tonnes / ha /

year. Carp culture, expanded its dimensions from 1984 in terms of

area coverage and intensity of operation, with Andhra Pradesh, Punjab,

Haryana, Maharashtra, etc. taking of fish culture as a commercial farm-

ing enterprise.

Chinese hatchery introduction in the country in the year 1980s

led to the large-scale production of carp seed in the country and the

spread of carp culture technology. The carp culture technology has

been popularised throughout the country and the average productiv-

ity levels are reported to around 2200 kg/ha/year in the

polyculture systems of carp.

Seed raring and grow-out cul-

tures are the two main components

of carp culture technology, which

have undergone several modifications and

refinements over the years to evolve to

the present day package of farming

Table 3: Commercially cultured Carp species in India

Category Common Name Scientific Name

IndianMajor Carp

1. Catla Catla catla

2. Rohu Labeo rohita

3. Mrigal Cirrhinus mrigala

Exotic Carp

1. Silver carp Hypophthalmichthys malitrix

2. Grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella

3. Common carp Cyprinus carpio


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18.Silver carp

19.High –backed Mahseer

20.Puntius jerdoni

21.Puntius sarana

22.Cirrhinus cirrhosa

23.Cirrhinus reba

24.Labeo bata

25.Labeo dussumieri

26.Labeo calbasu

27.Labeo fmbriatus

16.Mrigala

Table 2: Important commercial Carp species and source of production in India

Sl.No.

Common name Scientific nameSource ofproduction

1 Indian carplet Amblypharyngodon microlepis(Bleeker, 1853)

Capture

2 Mola caplet Amblypharyngodon mola (Hamilton,1822)

Capture

3 Barred baril Barilius barilius (Hamilton, 1822) Capture

4 Catla Catla catla (Hamilton,1822) Capture &

Aquaculture

5 Mrigal Cirrhinus mrigal (Hamilton,1822) Capture & Aquaculture6 Cauvery white carp Cirrhinus cirrhosus (Bloch, 1795) Capture

7 Reba carp Cirrhinus reba (Hamilton, 1822) Capture &

Aquaculture

8 Grass carpCtenopharyngodon idella(Valenciennes,1844)

Aquaculture &Capture

9 Common carp Cyprinus carpio (Linnaeus, 1758) Aquaculture &

Capture10 Gotyla Garra gotyla (Gray, 1830) Capture

11 Cumuca barbGonoproktopterus curmuca (Hamilton,1807)

Capture

12 Nilgiris barb Gonoproktopterus dubius (Day, 1867) Capture13 Kolus Gonoproktopterus kolus (Sykes, 1839) Capture

14 Korhi barb

Gonoproktopterus micropogon

(Valenciennes, 1842) Capture

15 Silver carpHypophthalmichthys molitrix(Valenciennes,1844)

Aquaculture

16 Bata labeo Labeo bata (Hamilton, 1822)Capture &

Aquaculture17 Boggut labeo Labeo boggut (Sykes, 1839) Capture

18 Kalbasu Labeo calbasu (Hamilton, 1822)Capture &

Aquaculture19 Malabar labeo Labeo dussumieri (Valenciennes, 1842) Capture20 Fringe-lipped carp Labeo fimbriatus (Bloch, 1795) Capture21 Deccan labeo Labeo kawrus (Sykes, 1839) Capture22 Pigmouth carp Labeo kontius (Jerdon, 1849) Capture

23 Rohu Labeo rohita (Hamilton,1822) Capture &

Aquaculture

24 Bheema osteobrama Osteobrama vigorsii (Sykes, 1839) Capture25 Jerdon’s barb Puntius jerdoni (Jerdon, 1849) Capture26 Olive barb Puntius sarana (Hamilton,1822) Capture27 Spot fin barb Puntius sophore (Hamilton, 1822) Capture28 Kooli barb Puntius vittatus Day, 1865 Capture29 Black line rasbora Rasbora daniconius (Hamilton, 1822) Capture30 Large minnow Salmostoma bacaila (Hamilton, 1822) Capture31 Deccan Mahseer Tor khudree (Sykes, 1839) Capture32 Tor Mahseer Tor tor (Hamilton, 1822 ) Capture33 Golden Mahseer Tor putitora (Hamilton, 1822) Capture34 High –backed Mahseer Tor mussullah (Sykes, 1839) Capture

Table 4: Carp culture system levels in India

Sl.No.

CultureSystem

SeedstockingLevel

Management LevelFishProductionLevel

1Low - inputsystem(Extensive)

2500-3000/ha

No supplementary feedingUse of low cost fertilisers fordevelopment of natural food formsLess care on health and growth of fish

2-3 tonnes/ ha/ year

2

Medium -input system(semi-intensive)

4000-5000/ha

Medium supplementary feeding Aeration very rareUse of medium fertilisersNormal care on health and growth of

fish

4-6 tonnes/ ha/ year

3High - inputsystem(Intensive)

8000-10,000/ha

Higher supplementary feedingIntensive aerationUse of high fertilisersIntensive care on health and growth offish

10-15tonnes /ha/ year


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practices. Culture systems, from extensive to

intensive, have been developed depending on

the varied input use. The technologies of seed

rearing, comprising rearing spawn to fry in

nursery and farther fried to fingerlings in rear-

ing ponds have been accepted as economi-

cally viable activities farmer’s level throughout

the country. Indian freshwater aquaculture is

mostly based on few species e.g. about 90

percent of production is contributed by Indian

major carp viz., Catla, Rohu and Mrigala and

exotic carp viz., Silver carp, Grass carp and

Common carp (Table: 3).

Carp culture is undertaken mostly in earth-

en ponds, irrigational tanks, reservoirs etc of

varying dimensions. Over the years, several

culture practices were evolved in

the country for different water

resources utilising a wide spec-

trum of fish species, fertilisers and

feed resources as main inputs. The

standardised packages of prac-

tices for carp polyculture include

pond preparation, liming, fertilisa-

tion, stocking management, sup-

plementary feeding, water quality

management, health management

etc. With an understanding of the

biological basis of fish production,

a series of systems are available

with varying levels of inputs and

outputs (Table: 4).

Farmers of Andhra Pradesh,

particularly in the Krishna, East

Godavari and West Godavari

Districts has innovated several

new techniques of carp culture

and those have contributed to

increase the carp culture productivity in the country substantially.

Farmers in this state are now able to get an

average production of 8000 kg/ha/year with

Rohu as the most dominant species in the

culture system. This impressive production

has been made possible by adapting the fol-

lowing various techniques in culture system:

• Stocking of stunted fingerlings of larger

initial weight.


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May 26-30, 2015

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• Regular feeding with farm made feed consisting largely of rice

bran mixed with different types of oil cakes and mineral mixtures.

• Heavy fertilisation with both organic manures and inorganic

fertilisers.

• Proper tank / pond management from stocking to harvesting time

Similar spectacular developments in carp culture have taken place

in the state of Punjab and the farmers have modified the technology to

suit their areas and obtain an average production of more than 5000

kg/ha/year. Besides these two states, West Bengal on Eastern part

of the country not only produces significant amount of carp, but also

most of the production from the states like Andhra Pradesh have been

reaching fish markets in West Bengal and other Eastern States.

ConstraintsThough the country is producing significant level of carp production

still there is a scope to enhance the carp production further.

Seed: The country is self sufficient for fry production at present but

non – availability of quality fingerlings of desired species and size has been

a major constraint over the years in carp farming. The fingerling rearing

process is often ignored due to shortage of rearing space in carp farm-

ing. Higher cost involvement and cumbersome process of long distance

transportation of fingerlings also forces the farmers resorting to stocking

their tanks/ponds with fry, often in irrational quantity, which leads to poorsurvival and low production. The culture technology recommends differ-

ent species ratios of the carp species depending on their combination;

the farmers do not have any choice but to depend on the seed supply by

the seed farm/vendors. Such a situation often leads to irrational stocking

and this failing to harvest at potential level.

Feed and manures: In many tanks / ponds in the country though

continue carp culture activity, productivity levels in small ponds have

declined since most farmers resort to stocking large number of fish

seed without providing any other inputs like feed and manures in

significant quantities. Feed costs are also increased significantly in the

market and fish cost was not enhanced proportionately.

ProspectsKeeping in view of these constraints, there is a large yield gap

between potential production and actual productions obtained. For

example, the research and farmers in Andhra Pradesh have demon-

strated the potential for obtaining over 15 tones / ha production in

carp culture and, the national average presently is around 2.20 tonnes

/ ha and in some states it is much lower. Hence it is necessary to

reassess the methods being followed for transfer of research outputs

to the farming community.

Carp culture in India, during the last five decades, has grown in

geographical coverage with diverse systems, besides intensification

of farming practices. A concern however is with regard to species

diversification, in spite of the fact that the country possesses several

other potential and cultivable medium and minor carp species hav-

ing a high region demand, viz. Labeo calbasu, L.fimbriatns, L. gonius,

L. dussumeieri, L. bata, Cirrhinus cirrhosa, C. reba, Puntius sarana,P. jerdoni (Figure 20-27) etc. Presently, efforts are being made for

mass-scale seed production of these species and their inclusion

as a component of conventional carp polyculture, based on their

regional importance.

References available upon request


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expert topic 1502: carp

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