Role of Poultry Bird Droppings on Pond Productivity through Poultry + Fish Integrated Farming System

The experiment was conducted at Main Agricultural Research Station (MARS), Raichur of Karnataka to study the impact of poultry bird droppings on physico-chemical, parameters of pond ecosystem and overall production of fish. The pond was stocked with common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and integrated with broiler poultry birds (Giriraj breed) which fertilizes the pond with their excreta during rearing. No supplementary feed was given to the fish while the birds were fed with leftovers of maize, cowpea and bengal gram which are easily available commodities in rural areas. The mean dry matter loading rate of birds excreta was 64 and 65 kg/year during first and second year into the pond resulting considerable influence on physico-chemical parameters viz., dissolved oxygen, pH, alkalinity changed and plankton volume also improved considerably. These parameters in totality affect the overall fish production ranging from 114.81 to 156.56 kg during 2012-13 and 2013-14, respectively. The average bird meat produced was 2.46 to 2.56 kg/bird. The results conclude that, integration of fish with poultry birds is more sustainable and profitable than farming fish farming alone.