Potential Use of Village Tanks and Farm Ponds for Aquaculture in Karnataka, India– A case Study

ABSTRACT The state of Karnataka in southern India has an excellent tropical climate, for the development of freshwater fish culture, in water storage tanks of villages and farm ponds. Small scale rural aquaculture in village water storage tanks and farm ponds in general, utilizes polyculture of carps and is practiced with the utilization of low to moderate levels of inputs, especially organic-based fertilizers and feed. The main problems faced by fish farmers are, poaching and water availability. Under Sujala-III (Karnataka Watershed Development Program –II, World Bank) project in Davanagere district, Karnataka fish culture demonstration was conducted with a group of farmers having short seasonal water bodies. The study revealed that a production of about 2319 to 2996 Kg/ha could be achieved from farm ponds and water storage tanks through integrated use of locally available biological resources. This implies an excellent opportunity for improving the rural economy through the development of small-scale fish culture enterprises. In this project, a greater emphasis was placed on improving the knowledge and skills of the farmers and their farming practices so that in the future they would be in a position to expand their activities with financial assistance made available locally.