Composite fish culture for mosquito control in rice fields in southern India.

ABSTRACT

Composite culture of edible fishes (common carp, Cryprinus carpio; silver carp, Hypopthalmithys molitrix, grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella; catla, Catla catla; rohu, Labeo rohita; and mrigal, Cirrhinus mrigala) in rice fields in the Cauvery delta of Tamil Nadu, southern India, resulted in 81.0% reduction in the immature mosquito population of anophelines and 83.5% of culicines. Analysis of fish feces for mosquito larval head capsules showed that common carp and silver carp are effective larvivores. The selective feeding of common carp on culicines and silver carp on anophelines is correlated to their trophic niches. Net profit in the fish-cum-rice fields was 2.5 times greater than fields in which rice alone was cultured. Hence, rice-cum-fish culture can be recommended to the farming community in this area.