Optimisation of nutrient flow and environmental effects of integrated rice aquaculture with Oreochromis niloticus (L.), Cyprinus carpio L. and Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man)

Description

Introduction

Methane is one of the most important greenhouse gases. It is estimated to contribute around 20 percent to the anthropogenic greenhouse effect. Agriculture is considered to be responsible for about two-third of the anthropogenic sources of methane emission globally. Within the agricultural sector, flooded rice and ruminant production are assumed to contribute equally to the global greenhouse effect. Methane is produced by microbial activity in anaerobic environments and its release can be prevented by oxidation. Methane oxidation occurs mostly in aerobic microsites in the rice soil, for example at the soil/water interface. Alternatively, oxygen is also available in the rice rhizospere, because the plants transport oxygen to their roots through aerenchyma.

 

Efficient resource utilisation in integrated rice aquaculture systems can contribute to an increase of agriculture productivity in rice-producing countries and possibly lead to reduction in methane emission.

 

Objectives

-         Assess productivity and ecological effects of integrating fish and fresh water shrimp in rice fields

-         Optimise nutrient flow in the integration of fish and fresh water shrimp cultures in a rice-field ecosystem.

-         Develop strategies for optimised integration of fish and shrimp into rice fields with the aim to increase productivity of the system

-         Possible reduction of methane emission by introducing freshwater shrimp into rice aquaculture

 

Progress so far

The seedlings will be transplanted into the plot by the middle of July 2007. Studies on integration of shrimp in rice fields and monitoring of shrimp and rice yields will be initiated in Bangladesh in August 2007.