expert topic: carp

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36 | INTERNATIONAL AQUAFEED | March-April 2015

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Welcome to Expert Topic. Each issue will take an in-depth look at a particular species and how its feed is managed.

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1Fish and finance: How China dictates the size of your carp farmby 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 to almost 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 fish 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 principal rivers 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 of Fisheries, Mahabubnagar, India

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Table 1: Carp production in India from 1991 to 2010

Year

Inland fish production (in tonnes)

Carp production (in tonnes)

Carp fish percent

1991 1655407 1140693 69%

2000 2828106 2008412 71%

2010 5077200 4073322 80%


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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

Indian Major 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 fimbriatus

16.Mrigala

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

Sl. No. Common name Scientific name Source of

production

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 & Aquaculture

6 Cauvery white carp Cirrhinus cirrhosus (Bloch, 1795) Capture

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

8 Grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella (Valenciennes,1844)

Aquaculture & Capture

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

10 Gotyla Garra gotyla (Gray, 1830) Capture

11 Cumuca barb Gonoproktopterus 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 carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (Valenciennes,1844) Aquaculture

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

17 Boggut labeo Labeo boggut (Sykes, 1839) Capture

18 Kalbasu Labeo calbasu (Hamilton, 1822) Capture & Aquaculture

19 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.

Culture System

Seed stocking Level

Management LevelFish Production Level

1Low - input system (Extensive)

2500-3000/ha

No supplementary feedingUse of low cost fertilisers for development 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 rare Use of medium fertilisersNormal care on health and growth of fish


3High - input system (Intensive)

8000-10,000/ha

Higher supplementary feeding Intensive aeration Use of high fertilisers Intensive care on health and growth of fish



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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 produc-tivity 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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• 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 timeSimilar 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 poor survival 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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IAFD House Ad 2015-16 21/1/15 15:53 Page 1

DIRECTORY & BUYERS’ GUIDE 2015/16

THE INTERNATIONAL RESOURCE GUIDE

The International Aquafeed Directory was launched in 1997 as aneasy-to-use publication for manufacturers of fish feed to sourcesuppliers. It evolved to become a practical guide to plant andmaterials available throughout the world.

The International Aquafeed Directory continues to maintain itsunique position. It is one of the most comprehensive directoriesspecifically designed to identify all aquafeed ingredients, rawmaterial feedstuffs, feed additive micro-ingredients, productionmachinery, plant and equipment available on the world market.

Make sure your company is listed inthe 2015/16 edition

If you have not already received your listing renewal via email, thencontact Barbara Williams on Tel: +44 (0) 1923 437616 or [email protected]. Alternatively you can visitwww.turretgroup.com to download the entry form. For details ondisplay advertising contact Julie Saridakis Tel: +44 (0) 1923 437620 [email protected].

Published by:

Turret Group LtdCardinal Point, Park Road, Rickmansworth, Herts WD3 1RE. UK

Tel: +44 (0)1923 432705 • Fax: +44 (0)1923 432770ww.turretgroup.com

IAFD House Ad 2015-16 21/1/15 15:53 Page 1