MONITORING THE IMPACT ON POND PRODUCTIVITY FROM LEARNING AT THE COASTAL FIELD SCHOOL 2016-2019

The monitoring of aquaculture farmers by the UNDIP/WUR-team aims to assess the progress towards reaching the goals set by the project Building with Nature – Demak. As planned in this first year the sample was taken in one village: Tambakbulusan. As farmers implemented the learning from the Coastal Field Schools during the same season as the training was given, no baseline for this sample was measured. In the village six ponds were monitored during one cropping season; we report on five ponds as one of the ponds was the demonstration pond on which Blue Forest will report. Before stocking the ponds were dried for at least 5 days and composted goat manure was mixed to the sediment. Thereafter an good dosage of home-made organic fertilizer was added to improve water quality; during the culture period a smaller dose was added weekly to maintain the plankton growth in the pond. The farmers prepared the organic fertilizer (compost), called MOL, from fermented rotten fruits, vegetables and household waste. One farmer used an industrial compost and another fed manufactured pellets; thus the five farmers implemented partly the promoted LEISA technology. Several of the cropping cycles couldn’t be completed due to heavy rains or flooding. The ponds were restocked. Some ponds were harvested early to avoid risk of mortality due to increase of salinity of shrimp showing disease symptoms. Other water quality parameters were within the limits for recommended limits for shrimp culture. For one production cycle only from five ponds in one village, the shrimp produced per ha was three times higher for the three LEISA farmers and for the other two 20 times higher than the average found in the Demak baseline for one full year, The average gross margin (income) was IDR 46 million/cycle, i.e. 4.5 times higher, but for the three LEISA farmers this was IDR 14 million/cycle, i.e. 40% higher than the average found in the Demak baseline for one full year. From the limited sample we conclude preliminary that the technology trained by the CFS allows to reach the goals set by BwN regarding pond productivity and income from aquaculture

Agriculture Diversification in the Mekong Delta: Farmers' Motives and Contributions to Livelihoods

Although specialization is the global trend in agriculture, integrated farming systems have emerged in Vietnam. An important motive was the desire to improve the livelihoods and the diet of the nuclear families; this was evident in the analysis using the household life cycle of five phases. Off-farm diversification was especially important for a new household. At the onset of expansion, the new mothers replaced off-farm with homebound activities. During expansion the farmers increased virtual farm size by keeping more livestock; during accumulation, they invested in land or education, and during consolidation old couples adjusted farm activities to their labor capacity. Livestock, including fish, was essential for livelihood. The distribution of goats instead of cattle by credit or by "passing-on-the-gift " was far more effective for poverty alleviation. Technological innovations on the cultivation of rice and fruits, and the breeding of fish were essential for change. The improved food security and reduced cash income from rice after the 1986 reforms pushed farmers to take risks. The farm area and number of component farm activities providing cash determined the level of cash income from agriculture. Farms with at least four flows of biomass between components earned more, demonstrating that real integration improved profits. A minimum area of land in, or close to, the homestead, and know-how are required for an effective integration of components.Mekong Delta, agricultural diversification

Cost-Benefit-Analysis (CBA) on Improving Aquaculture and Restoring Mangrove in Indonesia

Large areas along Java’s north coast are threatened by subsidence and abrasion. Subsidence is even faster than sea level rise. Although forbidden by law, farmers have cleared the mangrove forest almost up to the coastline, thus reducing sedimentation and increasing exposure to coastal abrasion. Four interventions are needed: reduce groundwater' abstraction, protect the residual coastal mangrove, give up ponds along sea and rivers for mangrove recovery, and improve aquaculture (using a field school approach). The Building with Nature project, funded by the Indonesian and Dutch governments, and partners of the Ecoshape consortium, is currently implementing the latter three interventions in Demak district together with Indonesian institutions and villages. For Tambakbulusan, a village in Demak regency, north-east of Semarang, covering about 750 ha, we estimated the benefits of these actions with a Cost-Benefit-Analysis. We accounted, next to investments and profits including those for fisheries, the cost of destroyed houses and ponds, and of forgone benefits due to new mangrove forest and loss of land. Our baseline scenario assumes subsidence and abrasion similar as villages closer to Semarang, where most lands were gradually engulfed the last 25 years. For such a period, a no-intervention scenario would cost close to 3 million USD due to loss of land, infrastructure and livelihoods. Investing 88.000 USD on recovering mangrove-only or on improving aquaculture-only, would generate benefits of 7.8 and 1.0 million USD, resp.. Simultaneously investing on both mangrove recovery (climate change mitigation) and aquaculture improvement (adaptation) would yield almost double: 15 million USD

EURASTIP Best Practice Case Studies: Aquaculture training and capacity building collaborations between Europe and Southeast Asia

This document was compiled to support future cooperation and collaboration between European and Asian educational institutions and other organisations with an interest in aquaculture sector training and skills development. It is primarily aimed at educators and administrators who may be directly responsible for establishing schemes involving staff and especially student communications and mobility between the regions. It should also be a useful resource for other organisations involved in supporting education and training in the aquaculture sector. Though not intended as a guide for students seeking mobility opportunities, the document does provide case study examples of different activities and academic relationships that exist between aquaculture actors in Europe and Southeast Asia

Organic matter reduction using four densities of seaweed (Gracilaria verucosa) and green mussel (Perna viridis) to improve water quality for aquaculture in Java, Indonesia

The high organic waste content of river water in Demak, north coast of Java, has caused traditional small-scale pond farmers to stop stocking shrimp. This paper examines whether seaweed and mussel will improve the quality of water these farmers use. The effect of Gracilaria verucosa and Perna viridis on the water quality was assessed by measuring the removal rates (RRs) of total organic material (TOM), total ammonia nitrogen (TAN), nitrite, and nitrate. The specific growth rates (SGRs) of seaweed and mussel were also measured. Thirty-six semi-outdoor tanks containing 800 L of brackish water and 7 cm substrate were randomly assigned to four replications of four densities of G. verucosa: 50 (S50), 100 (S100), 150 (S150), and 200 (S200) g m−2, and of P. viridis: 60 (M60), 90 (M90), 120 (M120), and 150 (M150) g m−2. Weekly, the TOM, TAN, nitrite, and nitrate contents were measured, seaweed and mussel weighted; RRs and SGRs were calculated at the end of the study. The effect of densities on the RRs was significant for both seaweed and mussel. P. viridis was more effective in reducing TOM (by 38%) than G. verucosa (7%); G. verucosa achieved higher RRs for TAN, nitrite, and nitrate. At S200, TOM and TAN decreased by 7.4% and 67%, respectively. At M90, TOM and TAN, decreased by 38% and 49%, respectively. However, nitrite increased significantly at S200 and M150. The SGR of seaweed was significantly lower at S200 than that at S150, S100, and S50. The best performing densities were S100 and M90