Fish cum Piggery

The pig dung as an organic manure for fish culture has certain advantages over cattle manure. The waste produced by 20-30 pigs is equivalent to one ton of Ammonium sulphate applied to the soil. The pigs are fed largely on kitchen waste, aquatic plants and crop byproducts. At present, fish-pig integration is practiced in all the developing countries. Several exotic breeds of pigs have been introduced in the country to augment pork production. The popular races are the white Yorkshire, Berkshire and Landrace. The pigsties should provide adequate protection from adverse weather conditions. A run or courtyard adjacent to the pig house is essential.

The size of the pig house depends on the number of pigs to be reared. Floor space is provided @ 3-4 m2 for every pig weighing 70-90 kg. The pigsties are built mostly at the pond sites and even over the ponds. The washings from the pigsties containing dung and urine are either channelized directly into the pond or composed before its application. The boars, sows and finishing stocks are housed separately. Maize, groundnut, wheat- bran, fishmeal, mineral mixture provide base for concentrated feed mixture. In advanced countries, garbage is widely used to economize pork production and provided after pre-cooking when pig dung is applied to a pond. It enhances the biological productivity of the pond. A portion of dung is directly consumed by some fish also. The excreta voided by 35-40 pigs are found adequate to fertilize one hectare of water. Integrated fish-pig farming is a viable and feasible scientific approach to augment fish production at low cost. The net income in this integration from one hectare of pond is Rs.2,60,000/-.

Updated on : March 2015