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Pond management strategies for small-scale aquaculture in northern Vietnam: fish production and economic performance

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Abstract

The traditional pond aquaculture in northern Vietnam is a plant-based integrated aquaculture system using poor-quality pond inputs (macrophytes, farm by-products, manures). Most applied feeds are palatable solely to the grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), which is the main species in traditional fish polyculture. Secondary species are malnourished as the natural food productivity is diminished by uncontrolled water flow through and high turbidity. Mass mortalities of grass carp lead to high financial losses for the farmers. To improve the fish production, researchers developed a semi-intensive pond management in stagnant water in which common carp was cultured as the main species with supplemental fertilization and pelleted feeds based mainly on locally available resources. In this study, the traditional and semi-intensive pond management was compared in six ponds for fish production, nutrient efficiencies and economic net benefit. The use of higher-quality feed and fertilizer inputs under semi-intensive pond management resulted in higher fish yields of 228 ± 42 kg × 1,000 m−2 compared to 88 ± 44 kg × 1,000 m−2 under traditional management and higher net economic benefit of 3,848,000 ± 1,469,000 VND × 1,000 m−2 under semi-intensive compared to 846,000 ± 3,753,000 VND × 1,000 m−2 under traditional management. Under semi-intensive management, 11.5 % of applied total nitrogen was transferred into fish biomass while under traditional management, 4.4 % of applied total nitrogen converted into fish biomass.

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Abbreviations

ADF:

Acid detergent fibre

ALC:

Apparent lipid conversion

CA:

Crude ash

CL:

Crude lipid

CP:

Crude protein

CPI:

Consumer price index

DM:

Dry matter

FM:

Fresh matter

GE:

Gross energy

NDF:

Neutral detergent fibre

PER:

Protein efficiency ratio

PPV:

Protein productive value

SGR:

Specific growth rate

SRS:

Self-recruiting species

TN:

Total nitrogen

TNER:

Total nitrogen efficiency ratio

TNPV:

Total nitrogen productive value

TP:

Total phosphorus

TPER:

Total phosphorus efficiency ratio

TPPV:

Total phosphorus productive value

VAC:

Vietnamese acronym combining garden, fishpond and livestock pen

VND:

Vietnamese dong

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and was performed under the umbrella of the Uplands Program (SFB 564) as part of a close collaboration between the University of Hohenheim (Germany) and the Hanoi University of Agriculture (Vietnam). Special thanks go to Dr. Silke Steinbronn for allowing the use of her data and to Dr. Peter Lawrence for language editing of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Life Science Center, University of Hohenheim, Wollgrasweg 43, 70599, Stuttgart, Germany

    Johannes Pucher

  2. Fish Medicine and Livestock Management, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria

    Richard Mayrhofer & Mansour El-Matbouli

  3. Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries, Thünen-Institute of Fisheries Ecology, Ahrensburg, Germany

    Ulfert Focken

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  1. Johannes Pucher
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  2. Richard Mayrhofer
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  3. Mansour El-Matbouli
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  4. Ulfert Focken
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Correspondence to Johannes Pucher.

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Pucher, J., Mayrhofer, R., El-Matbouli, M. et al. Pond management strategies for small-scale aquaculture in northern Vietnam: fish production and economic performance. Aquacult Int 23, 297–314 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10499-014-9816-0

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