Guidance of Tilapia Fish Farming

Commercial Tilapia fish farming is becoming popular day by day as demand growing for this fish in Asia. Basically, Tilapia is the second most farmed fish in world. In countries like China, Egypt, Philippines, Brazil, Thailand and Bangladesh Tilapia fish contributed substantially to the Food Security. The world aquaculture production of Tilapia fish is 4.2 million tonnes with an estimated value of around 3 to $ 3.5 billion. When it comes to potential of Tilapia fish farming, generally, low-laying areas with water stagnation are suitable for agricultural activities. Tilapia fish is among the easiest and most profitable fish to farm due to their omnivorous diet, mode of reproduction. Tilapia fish farming in tanks or channels are considered safe for the environment, since their waste and disease is contained and not spread to the wild.

Tilapia Fish Farming – Selection of Pond:- Select the pond or tank with minimum water depth of 1.5 to 2 meter. Make sure that the water level never falls down below 1 meter. The main criterion to be kept in mind is that the selected pond soil should be water retentive and sufficient water supply is assured. Avoid flood prone areas, industrial areas and chemically impacted soils. If you are selecting old ponds, they can be renovated for fish culture by dewatering, repairing of the embankments and provision of inlet and outlet. In either case of ponds (new or old), the following should be done for the development of the pond.

Tilapia Fish Farming – Bio Security:- Bio security measures should be in place to ensure no escape of the Tilapia fish or biological material from the farm/pond to the other water source . The following important bio security measures should be taken care for safe Tilapia fish culture.

Tilapia Fish Farming – Pond Management:- Pond management plays critical role before and after stocking the fish. Various measures should be carried out as part of pond management. The following are the fish pond management activities.

Tilapia Fish Farming – Fertilisation:- Fertilization should be carried out depending on the soil quality in the pond. A combination of both organic and inorganic fertilizers may be used for best results. The fertilization schedule has to be prepared and can be modified depending on the growth of the fish.

Harvesting should be done by partial dewatering and repeated netting. Based on the market demand fish farmers can sell the live fish to market or can be frozen and export to international markets.
Remark: The original source of this article is Asiafarming.com.
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