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A pilot project was launched in Chitwan district of Nepal by AARM, AIT jointly with the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS), Nepal. During the first half of the 4-year project, 21 women were trained on culture of carps and tilapia in fertilized ponds. They were provided with full technical and partial financial supports. Each of them dug a pond in her land. The size of the ponds ranged from 52 to 396 m² (avg. 175 m²) depending upon the land availability and other resources.

Average production of fish was 52kg/8 month, out of which 40% was consumed by the family which was more than double the amount initially expected (20%), and the rest was either sold to generate income. Some part of the harvest was also distributed free to the neighbors and relatives as it is a tradition in Nepal. Farmers who grew carps, had bigger ponds (234m²) compared to the farmers growing tilapia (131 m²). But tilapia was new fish to them; smaller ponds were constructed as a trial to enter into this new fish culture business. The average extrapolated fish production was 4.5 ton/ha/year that is nearly two folds of the national average fish production (2.3 ton/ha/year). Pond productivity decreased with the increase in pond size. Tilapias were relatively smaller at harvest but had higher yield (4.8 vs 4.2 to/ha/yr) and liked by the people for its better taste than carps. Therefore, from the family nutrition point of view tilapias appeared more appropriate. Data from this project revealed that a pond of 175m² size per family is sufficient which produces about 52 kg of fish out of which 21 kg for family consumption and 31 kg for sale to generate supplemental income. The income generated could contribute up to 20% of the total income required for the poverty benchmark (1US$/day). As bigger ponds (>300 m²) ponds had lower productivity probably due to lack of inputs and management problem, recommendation should not be made for the larger ponds.

Though it is a small pilot project, its impacts have been great. Five more families came to ask for help and constructed ponds with the support of the project. Later eight farmers in the same area built their ponds by using their own resources. The positive impacts have been seen from the increasing number of people involved in the second phase of the project. Although, big ponds (0.2 ha size) were thought to be required for the fish culture to be economically profitable, which was promoted by ADB in 1980s that were affordable by rich farmers only, this small pilot project has showed that fish culture in small ponds is possible. Recently, fisheries and aquaculture development division of the Government of Nepal has started to promote small-pond fish culture in many other districts of the country. The on-going second phase of the project has attracted the attention of more people and has covered 56 new farmers in two districts. The project was funded by WDP, German Committee while another 2-year project funded by Canadian Consortium has been recently launched which will add about another 30 farmers in the group.

Photos: Activities in the real field:

Picture 1: Women’s group

Picture 2: Group meeting

Picture 3: Digging pond

Picture 4: Women harvesting fish

Two articles published in AARM Newsletter provide details about the project:

Women in Aquaculture Project: Phase I

Women in Aquaculture Project: Phase II

Project activities and outcomes of the projects: Power Point Presentation (access restricted)

Following reports provide outcomes of the project:

Final Report: Phase I (to be posted)

Final Report: Phase II (to be posted)

Partnership:

We are looking for donors or partners in order to expand the project so that more people can benefit from the project activities. Please feel free to contact me if you think you could contribute one way another. Thank you.

Ram C. Bhujel, PhD

Senior Research Scientist

Aquaculture & Aquatic Resources Management (AARM)

Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), PO Box 4, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand

Tel:  +66-02-524-5472, Fax: +66-02-524-6200

Email: bhujel@ait.ac.th