Growth and Economics of Silver Barb (Barbonymus gonionotus) in Rice-fish-vegetable Integrated Culture System at Different Stocking Densities in a Rainfed Arid Zone

Sustainable integrated farming involving the combination of rice-fish-vegetables requires advanced technology to be adopted in crop production in arid zones characterized by red or yellow soil. In the present study, we used suitable and varying stocking densities of Silver barb (Barbonemus gonionotus) and evaluated in a structured production and economic framework under four treatments (T1, T2, T3, and T4) assigned with a stocking density of 10, 20, 30 and 40 fish/decimal, respectively. We used standard methods of water, soil, and plankton monitoring of the rice field. The study showed that lower stocking density provided the fish with more spaces and less competition for food resulting in higher growth performance in T1 compared to other treatments. Although stocking density did not…