Dr. Meera D. Ansal tells that Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Science College Ludhiana (Punjab) organizes animal fairs twice a year to help farmers, where demonstration units are also set up and farmers are told about the technology related to fisheries. She says that the purpose of the university is to tell farmers how many types of fish they can rear in their area.
In the field of fisheries, a large part of the cost of farmers is spent on the diet of fish, in such a situation, if they prepare the diet of fish themselves in a domestic way, then the cost can be reduced a lot. With the aim of reducing the cost of fish farmers, the College of Fisheries of Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Science College Ludhiana, Punjab prepares fish feed using homemade recipes.
By adopting this formula, fish farmers can prepare fish feed at low cost using the things available in their homes. In this regard, Dean of the College of Fisheries Dr. Meera D. Ansal discussed in detail with Kisan of India correspondent Sarvesh Bundeli.
Technical information to farmers
Dr. Meera D. Ansal tells that Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Science College Ludhiana (Punjab) organizes animal fair twice a year to help farmers, where demonstration units are also set up and farmers are told about the technology related to fisheries. She says that the purpose of the university is to tell farmers how many types of fish they can rear in their area.
Fishes are also of two types, one edible and the other ornamental. So how many varieties of edible fish are there and how can they be reared, where to get their seeds from, what diet to give them, how to take care of their health, their marketing and how to make value added products from them, all such technical information is given to the farmers.
Technology for all types of farmers
Dr. Meera, Dean of the College of Fisheries, says that there are many types of systems in the field of fisheries, such as pond aquaculture, indoor fisheries which includes recirculatory aquaculture system and biofloc system. In the indoor fisheries system, more fish can be raised in less space in the tank.
She says that the university also has different types of aquaculture systems, which are exhibited and small, medium and large farmers are given information to adopt the technology according to the resources and money available to them. So that they can do this work with the right information and earn good profits.
Homemade fish diet
Dr. Meera says that fish diet can be prepared by mixing the food that farmers traditionally give to fish, such as rice bran, or oil cake of the region, such as mustard cake is used in Punjab. Then the diet can be prepared by adding mineral mixture and salt.
To make it more nutritious, farmers can also add some fish meal to it. Now the prepared mixture is kneaded like flour and then made into balls and given to the fish. This is the most common way of feeding fish.
Right quantity for preparing diet
Giving information about the quantity of all things to prepare the right diet for fish, Dr. Meera says that if 100 kg of diet is being prepared, then 44 kg of rice bran, 44 kg of mustard cake, 10 kg of fish meal, about one and a half kg of mineral mixture and about half a kg of salt are mixed for it.
If someone does not want to add fish meal, then 49-48 kg of rice bran and mustard cake can be added. The mineral mixture used in this is prepared by the university and it is prepared keeping in mind the growth of special fishes, so it is much more beneficial than the mineral mixture available in the market.
Method of feeding
Usually, fishes are fed by making flour pellets, but there are other ways of feeding them. Dr. Meera tells that fish feed can also be prepared like vermicelli, it is called pellet feed. These are of two types, one floats in water and the other sinks. The fishes that live on the upper surface of the water eat the floating pellet feed and the fishes that live at the lower surface eat the sinking pellet feed.
The specialty of this feed is that it remains edible for a long time, spoils less and also does not spoil the quality of water. This feed is used in biofloc or recirculatory systems.
Grain size according to the size of the fishÂ
The size of feed to be given to the fish depends on their size. Small feed is given to small fish and big feed is given to big fish. Dr. Meera says that it is important to keep increasing the size of feed according to the size of the fish. The size of feed is kept different so that the fish can eat it easily.
Fish production will increase with herbs
Dr. Meera also advises farmers to use herbs like amla, giloy, aloe vera, ginger, garlic, which have been a part of our kitchen for years. If these herbs are added to the diet of fish at the rate of 10 grams per kg, then the health of the fish remains good, they do not need to be given medicine, the growth of the fish is fast and their fertility also increases.
If a fish lays one lakh eggs, then after giving these herbs, it can lay up to one and a half lakh eggs. Regarding its use, Dr. Meera says that dry garlic, ginger, ashwagandha, asparagus, amla, aloe vera and make powder and keep it. Farmers can dry them in the month of April-May because there is no moisture then.
Then this powder is mixed in the fish feed. She says that farmers can grow these herbs along the pond without much expense.
How much does the cost reduce
Dr. Meera tells that when these herbs are used as supplements in the diet of fish, the production of fish increases by 40 to 80 percent. Its use increases the cost of feed, but the production increases so much that it covers the expense and farmers get 20 percent more profit.
These things are chemical free, so the health of the fish remains good and when the health of the fish is good, the health of those who eat it will also be good. These things do not cause any harm to the environment and also increase the profit of the farmers, so why should not every farmer adopt it.
Azolla and water plants
Dr. Meera says that plants growing in water are also a part of fish farming. She also motivates farmers to cultivate Azolla. She says that Azolla is a herb that grows very fast by taking nitrogen from the atmosphere. Apart from this, farmers can also grow other plants floating on water.
Azolla cultivation does not cost much, farmers can grow it in the garden or pond by using any indigenous fertilizer. Azolla can be given in the same form as a supplement to fish, duck, chicken, pig or cow. It contains all kinds of amino acids along with protein.
Azolla can also be dried and kept and can be added while preparing fish feed. Fertilizer can also be made from Azolla, apart from this, sticks are also prepared from it which are kept in pots, its flakes are made to put in the beds. In this way, farmers can earn additional income from this work.
Role of women
Dr. Meera believes that fish farming is a business that can be done easily. Women already contribute in agriculture, dairy etc. and they can also contribute in fish farming, not only by directly joining fish farming, but they can also do the work of ornamental fish while staying at home, on the roof of the house, in the backyard. Apart from this, women can also do the work of preparing value addition products from fish, i.e. processing, such as making fish pickle etc.
Training arrangements
Training programs are also organized by the university for farmers, which includes training in fish farming, ornamental fish farming and processing. Dr. Meera says that for this, interested farmers have to fill a training form of the university and whenever a group of 20-30 farmers is formed in a category, they are called for training. This training is absolutely free for women, but the rest have to pay a fee of Rs 750 for 3 days of training and Rs 1000 for 5 days.
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