INTEGRATED AQUACULTURE

The process of integrated aquaculture is known to be a sequential linkage between two or more farm activities. The main objective of integrated aquaculture is to increase the overall productivity of water, land, and associated resources. The main links between the fish culture and livestock activities include the direct use of crops as well as the recycling of crop or manure-based nutrients. Integrated aquaculture basically is a proven method of increasing production efficiency. Integrates fish farming refers to the simultaneous culture of fish or shellfish along with the culture system. The integration of aquaculture with livestock or crop farming provides quality protein food, resource utilization, employment generation, and economic development. Our country, India is organic-based and derives inputs from animal husbandry and agriculture.

The ecosystem of integrated fish farming:

Integrated fish farming includes:

• Release of nutrients for autotrophs • Process of trapping solar energy • Production of organic material by primary producers • Decomposition of autotrophs & phagotrophic by saprotrophs

Advantages of Integrated Fish Farming:

The advantages of integrated fish farming are as follows:

• Efficient waste utilization from different cultural practices for fish production. • Reduction in an additional cost for supplementary feeding as well as fertilization • Artificial balanced ecosystem where there is no waste. • Provides more employment avenues. • Reduces the input and increases output and economic efficiency • integrated fish farming provides fish along with meat, milk, vegetables, fruits, eggs, and grains. • The practice has the potential to increase the production and socio-economic status of weaker sections of our society.