Business Proposition
Integrated farming is profitable
By Roberto Garcia
IF you have a small fishpond and you want to double your income, perhaps you can go into integrated farming.
Now what is integrated farming?
Integrated farming in brackishwater fishponds entails the culture of two or more commercial species of either animal or plant that shares a common water or land resource in the area. To put in another way, the practice of combining aquaculture with agriculture systems can maximize the farm productivity and result in increased profitability and food supply for the farmer’s family.
A word of caution though. The choice of species that can thrive harmoniously in the same water and/or land space is critical to the success of this venture.
A good example is the culture of sugpo and bangus in the same pond, and this can be combined with a species of seaweed such as gracilaria. Another is the combination of prawn, milkfish, seaweed and mudcrab. To be successful, the timing of stocking, feeding, and harvesting is manipulated for the different species. Other species of fish is mixed with bangus such as tilapia or rabbitfish (malaga).
On the other hand, fish culture can be combined with raising livestock or cash crops. Goat, sheep, and cattle can be helpful in reducing wild vegetation along pond dikes and at the same time their wastes serve as fertilizers. The dikes may provide space for raising swine and poultry and again their wastes as fertilizers, and for growing cash crops such as chili, cassava, malunggay, string beans, and pumpkin among others. Growing nipa and bamboo which have many uses could provide supplemental income year round. The list is endless.
The growing population and demand for food require that farmlands be used more efficiently and productively. Furthermore, the culture of more than one species ensures multiple harvests and therefore a continuous source of income.
So integrated farming could be the solution to your fishpond problems.
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