Authors : Donald I. Osuigwe , G.C. Onuoha and P.I. Okocha
Abstract: A rice-fish culture trial was conducted in Umudike, south eastern Nigeria using Oreochromis niloticus and FARO 44 rice variety in 6 plots (198 m2 each). Two treatments, sole rice and rice-fish culture were employed with each treatment replicated three times. Juvenile O. niloticus with mean weight 12 g were stocked at the rate of 2/m2 4 weeks after transplanting 4 week old rice seedlings using 20 cm spacing between lines and rows. Basal fertilizer (NPK 20:10:10) was applied at the rate of 300 kg ha 1 while 20 kg ha 1 urea was used as top dressing. Brewery spent grain was used as supplementary feed at the rate of 2% body weight of fish once daily. The fish and rice were harvested after 80 days of culture and 108 days, respectively. The rice-fish culture gave an average gross yield of 1327.78 and 2434 kg ha 1 for fish and rice, respectively while the sole rice treatment had an average yield of 2510 kg ha 1. Since the integration of fish in the rice plots did not significantly (p< 0.05) reduce rice production adoption of this system will not only lead to increase in animal (fish) protein production but also generate additional income for farmers.
Donald I. Osuigwe , G.C. Onuoha and P.I. Okocha , 2007. Evaluation of Rice-Fish Culture in South Eastern Nigeria . Journal of Fisheries International, 2: 118-121.