Brackishwater integrated farming systems in Southeast Asia

Abstract

Integrated aquaculture-agriculture systems are more common in fresh water than in brackish water. Nevertheless, southeast Asian countries already have considerable research and experience in brackishwater integrated farming systems. In the Philippines, the effects of animal wastes on water quality and production of fish have been studied: chicken wastes on the mixed culture of milkfish Chanos chanos, tilapia Oreochromis niloticus, and shrimp Penaeus indicus; chicken and cattle manures on P. monodon and Artemia; and swine wastes on tilapia O. mossambicus. In Indonesia, about 60 hectares of fish farms have crops (pumpkin, spinach, cassava, maize, and chili) or livestock (cattle, goat, sheep, chicken, and duck) grown on the dikes of milkfish ponds. In Vietnam, culture of the giant prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii, Scylla serrata and marine shrimps has been integrated with coastal rice farming. Aquaculture-silviculture is a flourishing venture in Vietnam and Indonesia and gaining ground with experimental sites in Thailand and the Philippines. The seaweed Gracilaria has been cultured with fishes and shrimps in Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines. The production of Artemia cysts and biomass has been integrated with salt-making and fish or shrimp farming in the Philippines and Thailand. Production inputs and outputs from these integrated farming systems vary widely and socioeconomic information is nil. It is imperative to conduct follow-up research and evaluation of each system in terms of production and socioeconomics.