Abstract
Studies were performed to asses the potential possibility of integrated tilapia farming with goat or rabbit in Mymensingh area with a view to develop a sustainable integrated pro-poor technology of integrated tilapia- rabbit/goat farming system during March 2004 to September 2006 in Mymensingh region. Studies conducted at Muktagacha, revealed that integrated rabbit-fish farming is a profitable farming system as the annual income was the highest in rabbit-fish farming followed by rabbit farming and fish culture while the production cost was the lowest in the rabbit-fish integrated farming. In a on station study with three treatments designated as tilapia-rabbit (TR), tilapia-goat (TG) and tilapia without animal (TO) with 3 replications in each with tilapia 30,000 ha-1, rabbit 1,235 ha-1 and goat 494 ha1 at BAU (On station-OS) revealed that the mean values of water quality parameters viz., transparency (33.14±7.12 cm), DO (4.12± 3.98 mg l-1), pH (6.9 to 9.6), total alkalinity (138.73±4.78 mg | -1) with trend to differ significantly (P<0.05) during study period. Initially, the concentration of NO3-N and PO4-P was almost similar in all the treatments but with the passage of time their. Levels were found to become higher in TR followed by TG and TO. The NH3-N concentration as recorded in the present study is very low in all the treatments. Chlorophyll-a concentration showed the highest level in TR and the lowest in TO significant (P<0.05) variation. All these parameters were within the suitable range for fish culture. A total 50 genera of phyto- and 15 genera of zoo- plankton were identified which was almost similar on all the treatment at the beginning but differed significantly among the treatments with increase values in TR, at the last stage. Significantly higher production (kg ha-1 152 days-1) of tilapia in TR (3,569) were observed followed by TG (2,960) with additional yield of rabbit (2,177.20 + 3.25) and goat (3,776.50±4.13), respectively for TR and TG. The benefit-cost ratios were 1.32:1 and 0.74:1 and 0.56:1in TR and TG and TO, respectively. Analyses also revealed that rabbit meat contained higher crude protein (23.12 %) in comparison to goat (18.56%), beef (17.52%) and chicken (11.52%) meat. In case of an on farm (OF) study at Muktagacha, the water quality parameters showed more or less similar trend like OS trial. The significantly (P<0.05) higher production of tilapia (kg ha-1 152 days-1) obtained in TR (3,306.38±183.5) followed by TG (2,764.16±241.72) and TO (2,156.23±18.87). The yield of rabbit and goat was 2150.07± 3.05 and 3189.93±2.12 kg ha-1 152 days 1, respectively. The benefit and cost ratio was higher in TR (1.62:1) than TG (0.77:1) and, TO (0.71:1). Comparatively lower yield of tilapia, rabbit and goat in the field condition might be due to season, soil quality and poorer management practices in the field. To assess the quality and consumer acceptance of rabbit meat, a panel test was conducted with 46 participants belonging to different consumer categories like university teachers, students and journalist. According to 74% respondents, the rabbit meat was highly tasty and softer compared to the other conventional meats, and about 98% respondents were in favour of eating rabbit meat at regular intervals. Most (78%) of the respondents also indicated that they were willing to buy rabbit meat from the markets regularly based on the availability. About 20% participants opined integrated rabbit- fish farming could be a sustainable and profitable livelihood means in the rural economy. To optimize the stocking density of rabbit in an integrated tilapia-rabbit farming system, another study (both OS and OF) was carried out with the treatments of TR8 (Tilapia with 8 rabbits dec-1), TR6 (Tilapia with 6 rabbits dec -1) and TR4 (Tilapia with 4 rabbits dec. 1). The water quality parameters viz. temperature, transparency, pH, DO, total alkalinity, PO4-P, NO3- N, NH3-N and chlorophyll-a concentration were almost similar to those of the particular experiments and were within the suitable ranges for aquaculture in all the treatments and did not differ significantly in OF and OS trials. The concentration of total plankton and benthic organisms were also higher and within the suitable ranges. The survival and production of tilapia and rabbit was found to be higher in TR8 followed by TR6 in both the trials. The higher tilapia production obtained in TR8 and TR6 compared to that of TR4. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of different dung's in the growth and production of tilapia as treatment TRD (with rabbit dung), TGd (with goat dung) and TCd (With cow dung) with three replicates each. The water quality parameters in all the treatments were within the suitable ranges like the previous experiments. The NPK (%) was higher in ponds receiving rabbit dung compared to dung's from goat and cow. The production of tilapia (kg ha-1 152 days-1) was significantly higher in TRD (3,633) followed by TCd (3,221) and TGd (2,824) which indicate that rabbit manure released more nutrients to increase the primary productivity which ultimately enhanced the better fish production. After intervention of integrated tilapia-rabbit farming at Kendua, production of tilapia increased almost 3 times compared to the production before the intervention with an additional rabbit yield. The young farmers (31 to 40 years) were found to be the early adopter of the technology with an income increase of 34-121%. Rabbit-fish integrated farming was found to be a low cost, eco-friendly and rapid returnable farming system in the rural areas in Mymensingh and therefore, the technology could be recommended for the rural poor of Bangladesh.