Rice farmers in marshlands in Rwamagana District in Rwanda who adopted integrated rice-fish farming harvested 5 tons/ha of rice compared to 4 tons/ha from rice crops cultivated with fertilizers.
The integrated rice and fish farming method also helped reduce production expenses as the fish eat weeds and pests and fish compost fertilizes the rice.
The method was introduced by the Food and Agricultural Organization in partnership with Rwanda Agricultural Board in 2021 to improve food security and nutrition among smallholder farmers.
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Maintaining the diversity of integrated rice and fish production confers adaptability of food systems to global change
Rice and fish production practices can provide local food and nutrition security, income benefits, generate more revenue per hectare than rice monoculture, and produce higher rice yields.
Rice-fish farming could help boost farmers’ income in Myanmar’s “rice bowl”
Aquaculture production in rice-based cropping systems could potentially boost farmers’ productivity, income, and nutrition in the Ayeyarwaddy Region, the country’s main rice-producing area. Funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the 12-month mini rice-fish project aims to assess the potential of integrated rice-fish business models to increase the income of farmers in the disadvantaged flood-prone areas of the Ayeyarwady Delta.
What is a rice-fish system?
A rice-fish system is an integrated rice field or rice field/pond complex, where fish are grown concurrently or alternately with rice. Fish may be deliberately stocked (fish culture), or may enter fields naturally from surrounding water ways when flooding occurs (rice field fisheries), or a bit of both. Fish yields can range widely from of 1.5 to 174 kg/ha/season depending on the type of rice fish system, the species present, and the management employed.
