Balanced Fertilization of Fish Ponds Improves Fish Yield

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Balanced Fertilization of Fish Ponds Improves Fish Yield

The major objective of applying fertilizers in fish ponds is to enhance the primary productivity of the fish ponds i.e. to assure abundance of different fish food organisms (mainly phytoplankton, benthos and periphyton) in the aquatic environment. This encourages growth and production of fishes which feed on these organisms. Improved primary productivity in a fish pond requires adequate space, moisture, light, nutrients, favorable pH, temperature and absence of toxic substances. Of these, considerable importance has been laid on the influence of nutrient concentrations of pond environment on primary productivity. Other factors remaining favorable, nutrient concentrations determine the magnitude of phytoplankton growth which relates to total fish production. Hence for obtaining maximum fish production, it is necessary to maintain the nutrient status of the pond to an optimum range.
Results of a PPIC sponsored research project on fish pond fertilization showed that proper and adequate fertilization of fish ponds considerably improves yield. Application of 200 kg N, 100 kg P₂O₅ and 30 kg K₂O per hectare to the ponds increased fish production by 20-22% over the common state fertilization practices of 150 kg N, 50 kg P₂O₅ and no K₂O. Research results also revealed that submerged condition tends to increase the pH of acidic pond soils of red and lateritic soil zones. Hence, use of 50% of the state recommended dose of lime could be equally effective as the full application, in improving productivity levels of fish ponds, thus decreasing the cost of production.

An abundant harvest with balanced fertilization

The total Indian production of 2 million tonnes of fish from freshwater aquaculture sector at an average yield rate of 2 tonnes/ha indicates that around 40% of fish cultivable areas of the country are currently being utilized for this purpose. The yield rate also shows that despite the increment from about 600 kg/ha to the present range, the current productivity level could best be stated as moderate leaving ample scope for improvement. The intensive carp culture technologies developed by Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture of ICAR have demonstrated that yield levels as high as 10-15 tonnes per hectare could be achieved by adequate and balanced use of nutrients. Fish pond soils of India have been classified into three categories according to their nutrient status. Among these groups, occurrence of highly productive fish pond soils are rather restricted under Indian condition and most of the pond soils belong to medium and low categories. Assuming that all the fish ponds of the country belong to medium productivity range, the N and P₂O₅ fertilizer requirement for these ponds will be 75-100 and 37.5-50 kg/ha, respectively. These rates correspond to total N and P₂O₅ fertilizer requirement of 0.17-0.22 and 0.09-0.11 million tonnes respectively at 100% utilization of the total cultivable pond area. If a moderate dose of 30 kg K₂O/ha is included, as demonstrated in the PPIC research project, the total consumption of K₂O will come to 0.07 million tonnes. Thus the possible magnitude of total N+P₂O₅+K₂0 consumption for balanced fertilizer use in freshwater fish culture could be around 0.33 to 0.4 million tonnes constituting about 2.1 to 2.5% of the total fertilizer consumption of the country. These figures would increase further if the requirement of higher inputs for the less productive ponds are included in the estimation. However, for overcoming various constraints as well as gaps associated with adequate as well as effective uses of fertilizers in fish ponds, it is essential to strengthen the research and extension activities for dissemination of comprehensive nutrient management practices. These will help to boost up total fish production in the country.