S.K. Swain, D.K. Sahoo, P.K. Meher, S. Kar, B. Patro, Rajesh, N., B.C. Mohapatra and Jayasankar P.
Central Institute Freshwater Aquaculture, Kausalyaganga, Bhubaneswar-751002
Introduction
Indian ornamental fishes with their brilliant colors and unique features need no introduction to the World market. It is one of the important items among the various types of commercially important fish marketed nationally and internationally. Culturing and keeping aquarium fish began as a stress relieving hobby and is now emerging as a commercial venture.
The farming of Ornamental fish made a paradigm shift among entrepreneurs ushering in economic development. However India’s share in ornamental fish trade is estimated to be less than 1 % of the global trade. Due to its increasing demand, this has offered good opportunities and opened up new avenues for the economic betterment of rural women and augments scope for more revenue generation within a short period of time. With these opportunities in mind, the Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (CIFA), Bhubaneswar, as a part of its activities to bring technological empowerment to rural women under the NAIP- Livelihood project extended the ornamental fish farming technology by involving rural women through self-help group which will play an important role to maintain livelihood of the local people. Therefore, there is an urgent need for up scaling the operations in this area keeping in view the mammoth requirements in the country. The present communication reports a success story of one self-help group at Sambalpur district, Odisha.
Methodology
The experimental work has been carried out in Nuapali village of Rengali block of Sambalpur district of Odisha, India. This village is 50 kms away from district headquarter, Sambalpur and 35kms from Jharsuguda, the district head quarter and trading centre in north western Odisha. After preliminary survey on the practices of farming through interaction with the farmers, Matrushakti SHG having around 12 women farmers as member was identified for exposing them with the demonstration of ornamental fish farming. The members of the SHGs were mainly from weaker sections of the society. The president of the group Mrs Puspamanjari Nayak and secretary Mrs Padmasini Nayak were very active and always motivate other members. Several village level training activities were conducted through screening of documentary films on successful farming practices, meetings and other related activities such as brood stock management, larval care, collection and production of natural foods, water management and management of production units were carried out for capacity
building among the participating women of the self-help groups. A two day exposure visit to CIFA was facilitated with the field work and practical aspect of ornamental fish farming. In addition, lectures were also delivered in local language to create interest in ornamental fish breeding and culture. In the meeting it was also decided that initially, the self-help group on their own expense has to invest some amount for a cement platform and few cement tanks under Public Private Partnership mode (PPP). Prior to the intervention, the self-help groups were advised to construct a cement platform of 7.5 x 5 m and six tanks each of 1.5 x 1 x 0.6 m. The construction work as per the required size was completed at a total expense of Rs.
12,000/- drawn from the savings of the self-help group. However CIFA provided eight rectangular FRP tanks of 450 liters capacity and a circular hatchery specially designed for breeding of fishes. The water from the open well is used directly for the purpose, however sometimes the bore well water is also used directly. Initially livebearers like guppies, sword tail, platys and mollies were introduced into the tanks. Before stocking all the species were kept for 2 minutes in potassium permanganate solution and then the fishes were segregated sex wise and stocked separately in the tanks. After attending the sexual maturity the fishes were kept in a common tank for breeding. The females were separated and then kept in the perforated basket inside the tank for escaping the young one from their mother to avoid cannibalism. Hatchlings were separated by fine meshed scoop net to another tank and the parent fish were maintained for the next breeding. The larvae produced from livebearers has been taken care by the farmer by feeding with low cost alternative live food like algae, water fleas, initially for one month and further readymade pellet carp floating feed containing 30% protein and 7% lipid. Since water scarcity is there in the region, a partial water exchange (10%) per week was done while siphoning the bottom faecal matters The tanks were provided with proper aeration through portable aerator which was provided to the unit during the period of culture. With the effort of SHG members and constant supervision all the works were performed efficiently.
Results
The approach of the study is participatory. The model yielded good results. The average temperature of the rearing water in the tanks varied from 18- 28?C, pH 7.3-7.9 and alkalinity within the range of 120-152 mg/l. Analysis of physico-chemical parameters of water showed that they were within the permissible limits. The breeding performance of Molly, Guppy, Sword tail and Platy were satisfactory. Most live bearing species give birth to their young and the real skill lies in ensuring that the babies are not taken by the brood fish. Few works has been done regarding the involvement of women in ornamental fish culture, breeding, management and marketing (Ako et al., 2000; Sinha and Das, 2004; Mohapatra and Sardar, 2007 and Swain et al., 2011). The fish were sold at Rs. 5-7/- per piece as per demand and negotiation with the local traders. From this venture, the groups made a gross income of Rs.
13000/- in one breeding cycle. The result of economic analysis of ornamental fish farming indicates that low investment and quick return is possible within very short period. The
members spent on an average one hour in their ornamental unit. After continuous monitoring, the results indicated that their skills had been enhanced and each woman was able to earn a net income of Rs 500 per month from the activity. After each harvest of ornamental fish, the revenue was collected and deposited in the Group’s account. From this it was found that, the Self-Help Group is a process oriented scheme which involves organization of rural poor, their training and capacity building to enable them to evolve into a self managed organization.
Conclusion
Ornamental fish farming can be a promising alternative for many people. It requires little space and less initial investment than most other forms of aquaculture. The profit of ornamental breeding and rearing unit depends on the carrying capacity, candidate species, management practices and infrastructure. Many of the members were housewives and they avoided in working as farm laborers in others field. Also the unit was located in their backyard so they do not have to move very far away to work along with their other household work.
This gave them very good opportunity to work and make some income of their own.
References
Ako, H., Tamaru, C.S., Asamo, L., Yuen, B. and Yamato, M. 2000. Achieving natural coloration in fish under culture UJNR Technical Report No. 28.p.55-60.
Sinha, A. and Das, R.C. 2004. National Seminar on prospect of ornamental fish breeding and culture in Eastern and North Eastern India. pp. 120-125.
Mahapatra, B. K. and Sardar, P. 2007. National Workshop or Sustainability of Indian Aquaculture Industry. pp.
51-60.
Swain, S.K., Ikmal, S.S., Parida, S., Patro, B., Sahoo, S.K., Rajesh, N., Meher, P. K., Jena, J.K and Jayasankar, P. 2011. Success story of Barakhandapat ornamental fish breeding unit, at Patna cluster of Keonjhar, Odisha. India. Aquaculture Asia, Vol. XVI, No. 4, pp. 11-14.