Performance and sustainability of the makhana (Euryale ferox Salisbury) cum fish culture system in India

Makhana (Euryale ferox Salisbury) is a commercial aquatic crop cultivated in the small waterlogged areas of north Bihar, India. Given the importance of Makhana, the present study was designed to evaluate the performance and economic feasibility of semi-intensive integrated makhana cum fish farming. In the current investigation, two treatments were evaluated: sole makhana cultivation (T1) and integrated makhana-fish culture (T2). Both treatments were conducted in triplicate across four different locations in Bihar, India. In treatment T2, fingerlings of catla (Catla catla), rohu (Labeo rohita), mrigal (Cirrhinus mrigala), bata (Labeo bata), Kawai (Anabas testudineus) and snakehead (Channa striatus) were stocked at a ratio of 3:2:2:1:1:1, respectively (6000 no. ha-1). The result revealed that only makhana cultivation (T1) yielded 1.78±0.133 t ha-1 seed, whereas 1.55±0.085 t ha-1 seed and 1.48±0.15 t ha-1 fish were produced under an integrated makhana-fish culture system (T2). Net benefits from T1 and T2 were `1,78,820±18633.40 and `2,74,007.89±83648, respectively. The estimated input cost, returns, and revenue in the experiment significantly differed among the treatments, as assessed by the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test (p<0.05) (Wilcoxon, 1945). In T2, individual catla and rohu had an average weight of 574.82±31.54 and 624.55±11.5 g, respectively, which resulted in a total biomass of 0.74±0.070 t ha-1 and 0.57±0.087 t ha-1, respectively. The biomass of catla and rohu was higher than the other stocked fish species and they were compatible with makhana cultivation in an integrated aquaculture system. The estimated concentration of biotic and abiotic parameters in each treatment was the optimum level pertaining to productivity. In addition, these semi-intensive technologies could help generate a surplus income of over 50% compared to traditional makhana cultivation methods and are more nutritionally sustainable than the monoculture method. Keywords: Economic analysis, Fish integration, Makhana, Plankton, Proximate composition