Alternative strategies for livestock-fish integration with emphasis on Asia

Citation

Little DC & Edwards P (1999) Alternative strategies for livestock-fish integration with emphasis on Asia. AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment, 28 (2), pp. 118-124. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4314861

Abstract
Alternative strategies for integration of livestock and fish culture are proposed based on a perceived polarization of production systems and markets for livestock in Asia: Rural, nutrient-poor farming systems that have limited potential for conventional integrated farming; and aquaculture linked to industrialized, periurban livestock systems. These options contrast with current conventional integration in which manure from feedlot livestock fed with off-farm feed is directly used as fertilizer in fish culture. Smallholders attempting integrated farming are constrained by poor availability of nutrients, and paradoxically the superabundance of livestock wastes typical of periurban areas also deters use in aquaculture since high land values do not favor the recycling of such wastes in semi-intensive ponds. Intensification of both traditional livestock and fish production components through the strategic use of imported nutrients is identified as a promising strategy for smallholder livestock-fish production. A range of practical methods is proposed for 'industrial-level' integration, including culture of tolerant fish species, reuse of culture water, and pre-processing of livestock wastes to produce live feeds for intensive fish culture.

Journal
AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment: Volume 28, Issue 2