25.04.2024
(97) The Ancient Tradition Of Rice Fishing Has Multiple Modern Benefits
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). Rice-fish systems allow the production of fish and other aquatic animals, from the same rice field area and generally without causing reductions in rice yields. This source of animal protein may be important for household nutrition and farm income. The design involves constructing channels within the rice field before harvest to allow water flow and introducing aquatic life into these channels and the field itself. After the rice is harvested, the remaining stubble and water create an ideal environment for fish cultivation, with the channels acting as refuges during the dry season. Additional feed can be provided to maximize fish growth at this stage. Before the next planting season, the field is re-flooded, reconnecting the channels to the water source and allowing the fish population to repopulate the entire field, continuing the integrated cycle. In the paddies with marine species, the researchers found that rice yields were up to 12% higher than yields without aquatic life. The fields filled with fish were also less plagued by invasive vegetation, weeds, and pests, thus decreasing the need for chemical pesticides. The rice-fish plots also had significantly more nitrogen-efficient soil, breaking down organic matter at a measurably higher rate. This nutrient boost reduces the need for growers to use synthetic fertilizers on their paddies. With this diet, fish remove pests, diseases, and weeds. By controlling invasive species, the competition for nutrients is decreased, so more nutrients are available for the rice. In addition, the waste produced by the marine animals is a rich source of natural fertilizer for the rice plants, supporting their growth and increasing their yields.
Credit: DW
Credit: DW
Poverty deprives people of adequate education, health care and of life's most basic necessities- safe living conditions (including clean air and clean drinking water) and an adequate food supply. The developed (industrialized) countries today account for roughly 20 percent of the world's population but control about 80 percent of the world's wealth.
Poverty and pollution seem to operate in a vicious cycle that, so far, has been hard to break. Even in the developed nations, the gap between the rich and the poor is evident in their respective social and environmental conditions.
Poverty and pollution seem to operate in a vicious cycle that, so far, has been hard to break. Even in the developed nations, the gap between the rich and the poor is evident in their respective social and environmental conditions.
