Integration of Vegetables and Fish with Rice in Rain-Fed Farmland: Towards Sustainable Agriculture

Abstract

Sustainability in aquaculture or agriculture production is depended on its successive use of natural resources that can ensure economic increment and sustainability of the livelihood of people. The objective of the study was to find out suitable combination of rice-fish-vegetable to be cultured in rainfed rice field. Two experiments were conducted for 4 months under rainfed condition. Two rice varieties (BRRI-51 and BRRI-52), three different fish species. i.e., Cyprinus carpio var. communis, Barbonymus gonionotus and Oreochromis niloticus and two combinations of vegetables (Red amaranth + Indian spinach and Cucumber + Water spinach) were selected for these experiments. Significantly higher growth and production performance of fish, B. gonionotus were recorded in both of the experiments. Furthermore, between the rice varieties, BRRI-52 showed significantly higher grain yield, biological yield and harvest index. However, vegetable combination did not show any significant difference between the experiment. Finally, considering economic performance, integration of BRRI-52, B. gonionotus and Cucumber-spinach combinations was provided significantly higher net benefit and benefit-cost ratio (BCR). Therefore, combination of rice-fish-vegetable BRRI-52, B. gonionotus and Cucumber-spinach is recommended to improve food security and sustainability for resource-limited farmers in rainfed rice field. Rice-fish-vegetable integrated culture could address the sustainable development goals (SDG) and therefore policy implications should be considered for institutional support, technical facilities and extension services to increase the knowledge of farmers and to uplift the productivity and profitability.

Sustainable Technology Adoption as a Source of Competitive Advantage for Pineapple Production in Ejigbo, Nigeria

“…To increase output in farm produce, there is a need to have a competitive advantage. With the increase in various innovative technologies, more recent studies have considered a competitive advantage in some agricultural businesses (Wang et al 2021;Pan et al 2021;Jewel et al 2023;Anzaku and Salau 2017). Different technological models have been developed on sustainable development and economic development.…”

“…It goes beyond simply focusing on the financial aspects of farming and considers the thoughtful and effective use of non-renewable resources, contributing to the growth of nutritious and healthy food while improving the standard of living for farmers By categorisation; the main categories of sustainability are economic, environmental, and social. Some background is also necessary on the sustainability of the farming practice (Pan et al 2021;Jewel et al 2023;Aluwani 2023;Ngobeni and Muchopa 2022). These studies have identified various sustainable approaches that could be adopted in agricultural farming.…”