INTEGRATED FISH FARMING

Fang Xiuzhen
Freshwater Fisheries Research Center of
Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences
 Topic Content

• Introduction on integrated fish farming

in china
• Technology of integrated fish farming
• Group discussion
 Introduction on
integrated fish farming in china

1. The Conception of IFF

2. History of IFF
3. The Significance of development of IFF
4. The Main Systems of IFF
 1. What Is
Integrated Fish Farming?
 IFF Is a Traditional Ecological Agriculture
Production Mode With Fishery As Main Activity

Game fish
FISHERY
Tourism Food fish Market
Seed production
Fingerling

Product processing

Crop Production Animal Husbandry

Economic crop Aquatic animal
Green fodder Livestock
Fertilizer
Grain Poultry
 2. The History of IFF
5-10 BC－ Fish culture has existed, the earliest work extant in
China on fish culture and the first ever literature on fish
raising in the world “Tan Li on Pisciculture” was recorded.
1-2 BC－People knew how to farming fish with other land animal.
9th AC－Dyke-pond system and rice paddy fish culture formed.
14th-16th AC－Fish culture rotated with grass; mulberry dyke-
pond; and polyculture fish species were developed.
1949－Developed and systemized the existed integrated systems
of fish-livestock/poultry, fish-crop and fish-livestock-crop.
1978－Extension and development of semi-intensive IFF culture
system.
2000－Being modified to suit the need for organic food production.
 Fan Li on Pisciculture
Prince Wei of Qi, who had courteously enlisted the services of the revered Mr Zhu of Tao, said to him:
"I've heard that you were known as Yufu on Lake Taihu, as Chiyi Zipi in Qi, as Chijingzi among the ethnic Rong
in the northwest and as Fan Li in Yue. Is all this true?“
"Yes," replied the revered Mr Zhu.
At that the prince again said:
"The working capitals at your disposal runs into millions and you have amassed a fortune of hundreds of
millions. Pray tell me the secret of your success."
"Well," said Mr Zhu, "there are five ways to build up a large fortune and the most important one is pisciculture.
By pisciculture I mean the artificial rearing of fish in a pond. First, dig a fishpond six mu in area with nine islets
in it. Then get twenty female carp filled with eggs and four male carp, all measuring three feet long. Put them
gently into the water without making a splash on the seventh day of the second month of the year and you can rest
assured that the carp will survive. Put into the pond one soft-shelled turtle in the fourth month, two in the sixth
month and three in the eighth month. Soft-shelled turtles are put into the pond because the flood dragon will take
the lead in flying away with the carp in tow as soon as the number of the carp exceeds 360 and the presence of soft-
shelled turtles in the pond will prevent this happening. Around the nine islets in the pond the carp will swim on
and on as it living in rivers and lakes. By the second month of the second year, there will be 15,000 one-foot
long carp, 45,000 three-foot long carp and 10,000 two-foot long carp. As each carp is worth 50 coppers , the whole
lot when sold will bring in 1,250,000 coppers. By the third year, there will be 100,000 one-foot long carp, 50,000
two-foot long carp, 50,000 three-foot long carp and 40,000 four-foot long carp. Keeping 2,000 two-foot long carp
for reproduction, you can sell the rest for 5,150,000 coppers (sic). By the fourth year, the proceeds from the sale
will amount to a stupendous sum."
Thereupon the prince of Qi gave orders for a fishpond to be dug in the back of the imperial gardens. Within one
year, he made a profit of over 300,000 coppers. There were nine islets in the pond and between the islets there were
eight deep pits. The water in the pond was two feet deep while that in the pits was six feet deep.
Carp were chosen because they did not eat their young. Besides, they grew rapidly to their full size and
commanded a good price.
Notes

1. Mr Zhu of Tao: an alias taken by Fan Li. Fan Li, also named Shao Bo, whose dates are
unknown, was a native of Wan in the kingdom of Chu (present-day Nanyang County, Henan
Province) towards the end of the Spring and Autumn Period (5th century B.C.). He once served
as a senior official in the kingdom of Yue and was later promoted commander in chief.
According to "Biographies of Tradesmen" in "Historical Records", after he helped Yue to
conquer the kingdom of Wu, Fan Li resigned office, "travelled far and wide on a boat, changing
his name from place to place, known as Chiyi Zipi in Qi and Mr Zhu in Tao"
Prince Wei of Qi: monarch of the kingdom of Qi (356-320 B.C.)
Since Prince Wei of Qi and Fan Li lived a hundred years apart from each other, there must be
an error in the records.
2. mu: a unit of area. A mu in the Zhou Dynasty is equal to 1.89 a.
3. Feet: A foot in the Zhou Dynasty is equal to 0.231 m.
4. The second month: the second month in the Zhou calendar, or two months backwards, the
twelfth month in the lunar calendar. The months mentioned below are all in the Zhou calendar.
The seventh day: In the ancient Chinese calendar, dates were numbered according to an
elaborate system of the ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches. There was a seventh
day in each of the three periods of ten days in a month.
5. Coppers: ancient Chinese currency
6. 1,250,000 coppers: This is erroneous when the sum is reckoned according to the number
of the carp. So is the figure 5,150,000 below.
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 3. Why we need IFF technology
at present time?

a. The demand of fish supply.

b. The demand of fish feed.
c. Development of other agricultural sector, animal husbandry and
food manufacture.
d. Increase the opportunity of employment and farmer income,
alleviates the poverty of rural community.
e. Reduce the cost and investment return period; spread out the
risks of production failure; and increase the income
f. Rational utilization of natural resources and waste material;
reduce the energy input and waste material discharge
 a. The demand of fish supply

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*over 11% growth rate per year compared to 3.1% for terrestrial farm animal meat
production and 0.8% for landings from capture fisheries
•90% and 82.2% was produced within developing countries and LIFDCs
•Developing countries share has increase from 72.6% to 90%
•Developed countries share has decrease from 27.4% to 10%
•LIFDCs growing 5 times faster (13.7%) than developed countries (2.7%)
*LIFDCs (Low-Income Food-Deficit Countries)
 Asia

Europe
4.97%

1.70% South
1.66% America
90.8% 0.48% North
0.36% America
Africa

Oceania
Table 1. Top aquaculture producing countries in the world in 1998
Country Production Production Growth APR Growth Total value Unit value
Metric tons % total world 84-98, %. yr-1 97-98, % US $ 1,000 US $/Kg
1 China 27,071,942 68.6 +16.2 +12.7 25,499,016 0.94

2 India 2,029,619 73.8 +11.2 +9.0 2,222,789 1.09

3 Japan 1,290,486 77.1 +0.5 -3.7 4,126,039 3.20
4 Philippines 954,512 79.5 +5.5 -0.3 639,080 0.67
5 Indonesia 814,090 81.6 +7.2 +4.7 2,149,508 2.64
6 Korea, ROK 796,632 83.6 +1.2 -23.4 766,268 0.96
7 Bangladesh 583,877 85.1 +12.7 +13.9 1,493,670 2.56
8 Thailand 569,577 86.5 +13.0 +3.1 1,806,795 3.17
9 Vietnam 537,870 87.9 +12.3 +5.7 1,356,724 2.52
10 Korea, DPR 481,500 89.1 -2.9 -1.6 302,950 0.63
11 USA 445,123 90.2 +2.4 +1.5 781,069 1.75
12 Norway 408,862 91.3 +23.6 +11.3 1,133,580 2.77
13 Chile 361,430 92.2 +33.3 -3.6 1,001,544 2.77
14 Spain 313,518 93.0 +1.8 +31.1 282,208 0.90
15 France 273,920 93.7 +2.7 -4.7 614,156 2.24
16 Taiwan province 255,205 94.3 +0.3 -5.5 818,395 3.21
of China
17 Italy 249,625 94.9 +7.5 +15.2 471,139 1.89
18 Ecuador 146,590 95.3 +12.0 +8.3 731,299 4.99
19 Egypt 139,389 95.7 +13.4 +89.8 327,263 2.35
20 UK 137,421 96.0 +17.1 +5.9 427,895 3.11
Total world 39,430,834 100.0 +11.0 +9.4 52,458,185 1.33
 Meat Protein Consumed

Mutton & Goat

Eggs
Beef & Veal
Poultry meat
Pig meat
Aquatic meat
(%)
0 5 10 15 20
 Percentage Contribution of Foodfish to
Human Diet (Total Animal Protein)

Asia
Africa
Europe
Oceania
North America
South America

0 10 20 30 (%)
 Foodfish Supply per capita

Africa

South America

North America

Asia

Europe

Oceania

LIFDCs

Developing Countries

Developed Countries

0 5 10 15 20 25 kg

*In 2001, the average global fish supply per capita was 20kg. Japan reach to 92kg in 1986
*In 2002, even fish supply in China was 33.8kg, but fish consumption is less than 13kg.
*Fish consumption was highest (66.9kg) in South Korea in 2003
*790 million people in developing countries and 34 million in developed country, mainly woman
and child, are not eating sufficient food to meet their basic nutritional need.
• According to a predict by IFPRI the global fish
consumption will increase to 127.8 million tons in 2020,
developing countries account for 77% which increase
57%, and developed countries will be 4%。
• In the future 20 years, global fish consumption per capita
will increase by 0.4%, China and India will be increase
fastest by 1.3% and 0.9% respectively，Latin America
and southeast Asia will be 0.4% and 0.5% respectively，
others will be increase slow or even negative.
 In general, the main factor driving the
apparent high demand for staple food fish (in
particular, low-value farmed freshwater food fish species
feeding low on the aquatic food chain), within most
developing countries and LIFDCs is their greater
afford ability to the poorer segments of the
community, including the rural poor, compared
with other animal protein sources. At present, food
fish represents the primary source of animal
protein (contributing more than 25 percent of the total
animal protein supply) for about one billion people
within 58 countries world wide and in particular
within developing countries and LIFDCs.
• Years of practices have shown that :
IFF is one kind of production mode,
which is low in input with relatively
high economic efficiency. And it is a
system, which is suitable for poverty
area (both large-scale and household fish farming) in
China and other
developing countries.
Provide multi-products to the market,
and steady market price of fish
products, meat and vegetable.

To ensure the basic food and

protein demand of people
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b. The demand of fish feed
Feed and fertilizer demand in Fish Farming

4500 kg 150 kg
Pig manure Grain

250 kg
Fish
Net weight

100 kg herbivorous
100 kg filter feeder
1500 kg 1000 kg
50 kg omnivorous
Aquatic grass Vegetable
Feed choice Nutritional value

•Cost •Palatability
•Digestibility
•Availability •Nutrition composition
 The types of artificial feeds in aquaculture

l Aquatic and terrestrial plants

l Aquatic animals and terrestrial-based live feeds
l Plant processing by-products
l Animal processing by-products
l Industrial wastes
l Formulated feeds
l Commercial feeds
c. Development of animal husbandry, food
processing and other agricultural sectors
• Organic waste materials from industries
(wine, beer), food processing and water
treatment are widely used as fish feeds
directly or used to produce living
organisms for fish.
• Slaughtering factory (15kg viscera / 100kg)
Increase the sources of fish feed
and fertilizer. Reducing the
pollution of waste material from
urban area.

Clean our living environment.

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d. Increase the opportunity of employment
and farmer income, alleviates the poverty
of rural community. Reduced the pressure
of employment in urban area.

Promote aquaculture and local

economy sustainable development.

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e. Reduce the cost and increase the
income; shorten the investment
return period; and spread out the
risks of production failure.
 The economic efficiency of different farming system

Farming system Cost Yield Profit

Yuan/kg kg/ha Yuan/ha

Common fish farming 1.52 4771.5 5695.5

Fish-crop integration 1.47 12186 16498.5

Fish-animal integration 1.48 7111.5 6982.5

Fish-animal-crop integration 1.30 7446 7852.5

* 1987, Hunan province

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f. Rational utilization of natural
resources and waste material;
reduce the energy input and
waste material discharge.

Build up a well-recycle ecological

farming system.
 2. The Main Systems of
Integrated Fish Farming

• The system of fish-crop integration (dyke-pond)

• The system of fish-livestock/poultry integration
• The system of fish-livestock-crop integration
• The system of Multi-level utilization
 The System of Fish-crop
Integration (Dyke-pond System)
 1. The link of fish-crop integration

grass Feed and fertilizer crop

water
Deterioration fertilizer
fertilizer

Pond silt
2. Formation and Function of Pond Silt
2.1 The Formation of Pod Silt
Manure
Feed Alluvial soil

Excreta N K
Corpse
Pond water
P
Organic matter
bacteria
Pond silt sludge
Humus Pond silt

The mean thickness is about 10-20 cm/yr or 750-1400m3/ha/yr

(earthen pond without slope protection, target yield 7,500kg/ha)
 2.2 The Effect of Pond Silt on Fishpond

a. As a kind of fertilizer for fishpond water

b. Consume dissolved oxygen in the fishpond,
reduce PH and increase BOD; creating toxicity
material (e.g. NH3, H2S, CH4)
c. Hiding the pathogens and parasite of fish disease
d. Reducing the carry capacity of fishpond
 Table 1. The Nutrition Content of Pond Silt
Nutrient content Pond silt
Organic matter (%) 2.45
Total-Nitrogen (%) 0.20
TP (P2O5) (%) 0.16
TK (K2O) (%) 1.00
NH+4-N (ppm) 273
NO3-N (ppm) 6
Quick-acting Phosphorus(ppm) 97
Quick-acting potassium (ppm) 245
 Table 2. The Equivalent Weight to Inorganic Fertilizer
Total NPK of pond silt Quick-acting NPK of silt

Fertilizer kg/100kg kg/ha/year kg/100kg kg/ha/year

silt (dry ) silt (dry)

Ammonium sulphate 0.962 7,140 0.134 1,005

(21% N)

Urea 0.435 3,255 0.061 465

(46% N)

Calcium 1.000 7,500 0.061 465

superphosphate
(16% P as P2O5)

Potassium 1.667 12,510 0.041 312

(60% K as K2O)

Total (2/3=18,000)
2.3 The Effect of Pond Silt on Crop Cultivation

a. Increases the thickness of the cultivation land

layer
b. Improves the soil’s particle structure,
strengthens its ability to absorb N, P and K
and improves the soil's capacity to hold water.
c. Slow-acting fertilizer, which is beneficial to
later crops
d. Increase the yield of crop.
 3. The possibility of Fish-Crop Integration

Land potential +0.2 ha 1:2

pond silt crop
Fertile water
3m

•Pond silt
•Arable land
•Water surface
•Feed satisfy

Pond area 0.67 ha with Slop gradient 1:1.5 or 1:3

can provide 0.13 ha of crop land (dike and slope)
4. Main types of Fish-crop Integration

• Integration of fish-terrestrial plant

(grass dyke-pond)
• Rotation of fish and grass
• Integration of fish-aquatic plant
• Integration of mulberry dyke-pond
• Paddy-fish culture