Nile tilapia and common carp fingerling production in northwest Bangladesh - a decentralised concept.

In the northwest of Bangladesh farming households in rural areas successfully produce large size fingerlings of a good strain of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus; GIFT strain) and common carp (Cyprinus carpio) in irrigated spring rice fields. The technical details of household-level fingerling production are presented as guidelines for use by extension workers for its promotion. The production of such large size fingerlings creates demand from grow-out farmers to whom they sell the fingerlings for income as well as to stock in their own ponds or rice fields for food fish production. The system thus benefits large numbers of small-scale producer households in rural areas by providing extra income and improving household nutrition. The technology is being readily adopted by farmers in rural areas after its initial introduction and with minimum institutional support. The use of such a "decentralised system" of fingerling production results in the production of small numbers of fingerlings by individual households and is mostly adopted by small and marginal farmers rather than the rich. However, for marginal and poor farmers it provides a significant proportion of their income from the rice plot and contributes an important proportion of their total household income. As a large number of households have adopted the system, the total production of fingerlings is quite high and in the northwest region where it has largely been promoted to date such decentralised production comprises almost 10% of the total fingerling production. If the production of large size fingerlings is considered, it covers a higher proportion of total fingerling production, and for fish such as the good strain of Nile tilapia, such production covers almost 100% as there is almost no production of their fingerlings in established hatcheries and nurseries in the northwest region. It also covers a high proportion of the total production of common carp because the large size fingerling production of the species in established hatcheries and nurseries is limited.