Carp Culture in Salt Affected Agricultural Lands of Maharashtra

Abstract

Soil salinity is not a recent phenomenon; it has been reported since centuries. In Maharashtra, more than 0.1 million hectares of sugarcane fields became saline in the four districts of western Maharashtra ie. Pune, Satara, Sangli and Kolhapur. In order to utilise these salt affected soils and generate income source to the farmers, CIFE, Mumbai, took initiative in ICAR funded national agricultural innovative project (NAIP). Two sites were selected for demonstration of aquaculture at Shere and Gondi villages of Karad Taluka, Satara District. These sites are adjacent to irrigation canal to get desired quantity of water for aquaculture ponds. The two demonstration units were established on common property of farmers following participatory co- management approach. In each village 3 nos. of grow out ponds of 0.4 ha each were constructed and filled with canal water and fertilized following the normal carp culture practices. The ponds were stocked with carp advance fingerlings (average weight 35 g) @ 5000 nos/ ha and grown to an average weight of 950 g in 9 months at Shere. An average production of 3.85 tons/ha was achieved with a net income of Rs. 85,000. At Gondi unit the fishes grown to 1.0 to 1.5 kg in 10 months and the production ranged 3.75 to 4.50 tons/ ha with net income varied between Rs. 95,000 to Rs. 1,40,000/ ha.