B.G. Kamilov, I.I. Khalilov

Every farmer knows that producing food is a sustainable business if the product is in demand, and the technology for producing this food is profitable. After all, customers and their families have to eat every single day. Fish are among the most useful and valuable food products. In Uzbekistan, fish production is particularly attractive and has great potential. Why? Because fish are such a useful product that without them it would be impossible to have a healthy population. Medical science has established that the minimum necessary consumption of fish is 16 kg per person per year. Since the population of our country is approaching 30 million, that means that Uzbekistan requires more than 400,000 tons of fish each year. How much is currently being produced? Scarcely more than 30,000 tons per year! There is, therefore, a fish deficit.

The worldwide importance of aquaculture for the global food market, and particularly for developing regions, was clearly stated by Árni M. Mathiesen, the Assistant Director-General of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. “Given that the global population is set to rise to 9 million by the year 2050, aquaculture, particularly in regions that suffer the most from food insecurity, could make a singular contribution to global food security and economic growth,” he noted.

There is objective evidence for this. Uzbekistan is at the centre of the world's largest landmass, with no access to the sea where fish could be acquired by fishing (i.e. catching fish in the wild). However, fish can be farmed. This is called aquaculture. But aquaculture also makes demands on farmland. During the planned economy of Soviet times, the farmlands of Uzbekistan were used for cotton and other crops which benefited from its southern location. Fish were primarily shipped in, and older people still remember that Thursday was fish day. However, the break-up of the USSR meant that the delivery of fish practically ground to a halt. A fish deficit opened up, and the government had more important tasks on their hands in the early years of creating a new state. Seeking to resolve the most pressing challenges, the government is paying attention to questions of food, including fish. And the government now considers aquaculture to be a priority area for developing agro-business. It is in the interest of individual farmers to produce a most important foodstuff – fish – just as it is in the interest of the state to promote the development of this kind of production.

A rainbow trout is ready for sale

However, there is a problem: there is a limited amount of irrigated land in Uzbekistan. And all types of agro-business are competing for this land. There are a range of tangible advantages when it comes to growing cotton, fruit and vegetables, and livestock. These forms of agriculture have been well known and well regarded for millennia. Technology has been developed to enhance them, and business networks are well established. However, aquaculture is a new orientation and is unfamiliar in this country. Aquaculture currently consists of rearing fish in small ponds with low production rates: 10-20 centners per hectare, or 0.1-0.2 kg per cubic metre. Global practice uses technology to attain production rates of 40-200 kg per cubic metre. In Uzbekistan, the extensive or semi-intensive system is used.

As an example, we can list very general figures. In order to fill a one-hectare pond (of an average depth of 1.5 metres), 15,000 cubic metres of water are needed. In order to compensate for evaporation from the pond during our hot growing season, another 9,000 cubic metres of water are needed giving a total of 24,000 cubic metres of surface water used (Fig. 1). In Uzbekistan, there is an area of around 10,000 hectares of active ponds, with a collective volume of around 240 million cubic metres during the growing season. What kind of return on investment does this water provide? In good years, ponds in Uzbekistan produced 30-40 centners per hectare, which greatly exceeded the other ex-Soviet republics. Currently, due to a sharp reduction in the use of compound feed and the degradation in aquaculture stocks, productivity is down to 10-20 centners per hectare. The market price of the fish farmed (predominantly silver carp) amounts to around 10,000-20,000 Uzb soms per kilogram. Thus one cubic metre of water provides 600-1,200 Uzb soms per year (or 0.20-0.40 United States dollars). Given our arid climate, is it really sensible to use water like this? But we should also note that aside from the water they use, ponds also take up enormous amounts of land, and in areas with irrigation and drainage systems. Thus the efficiency of using land resources in this way is also dubious. In Uzbekistan there is an urgent need to look into the deficit of water and land resources.

The use of water resources in extensive and
intensive aquaculture

But how much fish grows with intensive aquaculture? First of all we must note that silver carp is not farmed in this way, but rather higher-quality fish such as catfish. The catfish costs around 14,000 Uzb soms per kilogram. Thus one cubic metre of water would produce 560,000-2,800,000 Uzb soms. And what about one hectare?

Therefore it becomes a question, indeed a pressing concern, to develop intensive aquaculture alongside extensive aquaculture in the country’s fish farms in order to get the maximum amount of food and profit by making use of natural resources. But it is quite easy to do this. First and foremost, we need to know how.

Aquaculture technology is needed. This allows many fish to be farmed with very minimal land and water use, so that water is not wasted and spoiled, and is immediately directed to another user. This technology has only become available during recent decades (from around the start of the 1990s).

What is intensive aquaculture? It is the creation of optimal conditions for keeping fish so that they have the optimal amount of feed and the right temperature for the fastest possible growth. It is called intensive because the fish grow entirely due to the feed that they are given. This is the same as in intensive methods of raising livestock and poultry. Experience has shown that feed is the greatest expense, at 50-70%. The better use of feed is made, the more profitable will be the breeding of fish. Balanced feed is needed - it must contain all the necessary nutrients for life and growth (proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals). There are no compound feeds known to us that are suitable for this kind of use in ponds. They contain very little protein and do not contain many crucial components. As a comparison, the protein content of compound feeds is 12-18%, while intensive aquaculture requires feeds to have a protein content of 30%, or ideally 35-45%.

Table 1: Classification of aquaculture technology according to intensiveness

Bakhtiyor Ganievich Kamilov - candidate of biological sciences, senior scientific officer of the Gene Pool Institute of Plant and Animal Life of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan

When artificially feeding fish, the most important thing is to define the optimal ratio (the amount of daily feeding), which depends on a range of factors, primarily the water temperature. The optimal water temperature for growth is different for each species of fish. The closer the water temperature is to the optimal temperature for growth on a particular day, the lower (to a certain extent) the amount of feeding can be and the faster the fish grow. For example, carps at a temperature of 15 degrees Celsius are fed balanced feeds at a rate of 1% of the biomass of the fish, but are given 3% at 24 degrees Celsius. It is clear that there is a threefold difference, and fish grow three times faster or slower in water of different temperatures.

There are several extremely interesting conclusions to be drawn from what has been said. In conditions like those to be found in Uzbekistan, carp, silver carp and grass carp can grow well for only three months of the year (when standing water on plains reaches a temperature of over 22 degrees Celsius), have reasonable growth for another 2-3 months (18-22 degrees), grow very slowly for 1-2 months (temperature above 14-18 degrees), and do not grow at all (i.e. hibernate) for 5-6 months. Thus, open bodies of water for growing carp, silver carp and grass carp are not “in operation” for half of the year! This is simply a fact.

Are there types of fish whose optimal temperature is closer to the temperature in our waters? The answer to this question leads us to another interesting conclusion. The water temperature in the rivers and canals of the mountainous and hilly regions of Uzbekistan has not exceeded 18 degrees Celsius during the course of a year for several years. This is understandable: the rivers in the Aral Sea basin start in the high mountains and are fed by ice and snow melt (precipitation has little effect on river flow), and our rivers have a strong flow rate. Even at the height of summer, the average river and canal simply has no chance to heat up. As an example, we have provided the yearly temperature fluctuation of the water in the Chirchik river in the town of Chirchik (fig. 1).

The barrier must be crossed, firstly because this is a very promising area, secondly because there is a lack of water in Uzbekistan, and thirdly - because it is not very difficult. This was shown quite strikingly by the experience of fish farmers and the authors of a textbook on breeding trout. The textbook was published as part of the GEF SGP project. We (the authors) found information in the literature, analysed it, gained a theoretical grounding and, on empty land near Tashkent, helped to build some trout farms with a fish nursery by means of basin techniques. As part of the GEF SGP work, we arranged a regularly supply of impregnated roe from Seattle (in terms of timezones, the most distant city on earth from Tashkent, on the other side of the planet). It takes 6-7 months to incubate the eggs and then raise saleable fish. Another GEF SGP trial was a project to create a trout farm at Gazalkent. At the time of publication of this article, two additional trout farms have been built and several more are under construction.

The global profits from the export of fish and fish products came to 136 billion US dollars in 2013

One cubic metre of water can produce over 40 kilograms of marketable fish. Broadly speaking, the economical calculations are as follows: spending on fish, depending on their breed, will be 7,000-10,000 Uzb soms (according to prices from summer 2014), which includes all material costs, and very good salaries paid to fish farmers. The largest part of these expenditures (6,000-9,000 Uzb soms) will be for feed. But how much do fish cost straight from a fish farm? For carp, the figure is 12,000 in autumn and more than 15,000 during the rest of the year. Other fish are more expensive. For example, the rainbow trout costs more than 30,000 Uzb soms per kilgram. So, the profit will be at minimum (for small carp weighing less than 1 kg) 5,000-6,000 Uzb soms for 1 kg of fish, and a lot higher for other fish. Therefore every cubic metre of water can produce at least 40,000 Uzb soms in profit. But what size of ponds is needed for intensive aquaculture? Whichever size can be built. You can easily create a fish farm with a capacity of 100 cubic metres.

What is necessary to get involved in aquaculture? First and foremost: financial resources and knowledge. It is 21st century now. Fish farming on a global scale is a highly advanced branch of economics which invests large sums into developing its own branch of science: ichthyology. As a result, extremely varied technologies have been developed for every type of pond, for a wide range of productivity levels (from 0.1 to 400 kg of fish per cubic metre of water) and for raising more than 100 types of fish and water-dwelling animals. From the year 2000, aquaculture became the biggest source of animal protein for humans, followed by livestock and fishing.

Why did we write all of this? So that it would be instantly understood that it is quite wrong to consider that anything at all in modern aquaculture can be achieved without expertise! You will not be able to raise fish through intensive aquaculture simply because you are able to graze cattle or grow vegetables. Aquaculture involves much more technology. You will not be able to raise fish quickly simply because you are a good businessman and you have substantial financial means (although you can easily lose great sums of money due to a lack of expertise). However, if you have the means, you have worked out (or commissioned) a good project, you have gathered enough information and you diligently implement the project, then you will create the most profitable and sustainable form of agro-business.

Trout farm in Yuqori-Chirchiq district, Tashkent province established within the framework of GEF SGP project

Where can you gain this expertise? Consultations with specialists (if you want a good result and responsible consultations, these must be paid for) and self-study. Self-study involves reading the necessary literature. It is hard work to find the necessary literature and tailor the information to local conditions, and only specialists are able to do this. And now our Small Grants Programme is offering you, dear reader, a unique opportunity. Renowned specialists in the field of aquaculture in Uzbekistan have carried out this kind of work with regards to trout farming and have compiled a textbook. The book contains a synthesis of worldwide experiments as well as personal activities to create small trout farms in the conditions of Uzbekistan. A practical textbook is currently being published for all farmers who want to start raising trout. Anyone interested can contact the GEF SGP to receive a free copy of the book, or can download it at www.sgp.uz. Get your own copy, read it, think about it, and you will have taken an important first step towards mastering intensive aquaculture.

Contacts:

Bakhtiyor Ganievich Kamilov - Candidate of biological sciences, Senior scientific officer of the Gene Pool Institute of Plant and Animal Life of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan

Tel: +99871 2690061; +99893 3961269

E-mail:bkam58@rambler.ru

Ibragim Ilyosovich Khalilov - ichthyologist and fish farmer

Tel.: +99890 90665 66