Performance of an improved breed of common carp - Amur (Hungarian strain) in the North-eastern hill state of Meghalaya, India

Abstract

Common carp (Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758) is an important fish species for aquaculture in the North-east hill region (NEH) of India. However, in recent years, the growth performance of the existing stock of common carp has been a major concern. In an effort to improve fish production from farmers’ ponds and to evaluate the performance of the breed in mid hill condition, a genetically improved breed of common carp, Amur (Hungarian strain) was introduced in Meghalaya in 2010. Fingerlings of Amur common carp (weight ~14.5 g and length ~10.5 cm), reared under mid-altitude conditions in the fish farm of the ICAR Research Complex for North-eastern hill (NEH) Region, Barapani, Meghalaya, attained maturity in about 14 months period. The first breeding trial with this newly introduced variety was conducted successfully in March 2011 when the atmospheric temperature ranged between 16.0-18.30C. The fertilised eggs hatched in 78-83 h (water temperature 19.0-22.80C and pH 6.5-6.8). Three year studies revealed that the performance of Amur common carp is superior over the local existing breed in farmers ponds under the mid hill conditions.

Harnessing the Potential of Naturally-stabilized Earthen Ponds for Hill Aquaculture: A Demonstration Using Fish Species Combinations in Meghalaya

“…Water temperature plays a crucial role in fish culture; it is a very critical factor of production upon which overall water quality and fish growth heavily rely [8,9,10]. Based on the observed temperature ranges, it is could be said that a suboptimal condition was prevailed for fish in this study which aligns with earlier studies conducted in Meghalaya [5].…”

A combination of two species fish culture with Labeo gonius (Hamilton, 1822) and Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758 under mid-hill condition in Meghalaya, North-east India

“…At the end of 12 months culture period L. gonius attained an average final weight of 216.7 g with 78% mean survival, whereas C. carpio recorded a mean survival percentage of 83% and attained an average final weight of 427.4 g. An average production of 2,550 kg ha -1 of fish was obtained during the one year culture cycle. Similar results were also observed by Das (2017) in local common carp and amur common carp culture in mid-hill condition where they attained 440 g and 500 g respectively. Jena and Das (2011) compared the growth performance of different fish species viz., L. rohita, C. mrigala and L. gonius under polyculture system and found L. gonius as a feasible species with major carps exhibiting survival percentage between 75.5 to 79.8.…”

“…Aquaculture in the region is basically carp based polyculture, a considerable share of which comes from the homestead and community ponds. While several fish species are found in the natural waters of the region, at present only about 10-12 food fish species are being cultured by the fish farmers of the North-eastern region of India (Das, 2017;Das and Singh, 2017). Catla (Labeo catla), rohu (Labeo rohita) and mrigal, (Cirrhinus mrigala) known as Indian major carps (IMCs), are important carp species cultured traditionally in ponds and tanks due to their higher growth and consumer preference.…”

“…Among all, the common carp is an important fish species of the region, which is mostly grown together with IMCs and exotic carps in a polyculture system. Although the best growth is obtained at water temperature of 23-30°C, the fish can survive cold winter periods making it one of the most suitable fish species for hill aquaculture in the North-eastern region (Das, 2017). In our earlier studies, an indigenous minor carp, Kurhi (Labeo gonius) locally known as Khaski in Meghalaya was evaluated for growth and maturation and found to perform better than the IMCs at relatively lower temperature .…”