Author(s)

Mbaye Tine¹, Saliou Wade², Mbacke Sembene³

¹UFR of Agricultural Sciences, Aquaculture and Food Technologies (UFR S2ATA), Gaston Berger University, Saint-Louis, Senegal.
²UFR of Economic Sciences and Management, Gaston Berger University, Saint-Louis, Senegal.
³Department of Animal Biology, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal.

This study aims to evaluate and compare the fertilizing effects of fish-breeding water and river water combined or not with composted poultry manure on the growth and production of okra and lettuce crops. Thus, a sample of 2000 Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus fry and a sample of 100 Cobb 500 strain chicks were reared and monitored for six months and fifteen days. Poultry manure and fish-breeding water were then collected and used to fertilize and water okra and lettuce crops. Two systems were used for the crops (okra and lettuce) tested in an elementary plot design with replicates for each treatment (T1: fish-breeding water alone; T2: river water alone; T3: fish-breeding water combined with manure; T4: river water combined with manure). Morphometric parameters and phenological traits of okra and lettuce crops as well as the total harvest weight and production yield were evaluated and compared between treatments. The results reveal better growth and higher yields (0.67 kg/m² vs. 0.45 kg/m²) of okra crops that received treatment T1 compared to T2. The best growth and yields of lettuce were obtained with treatments T3 (3.34 kg/m²) and T1 (1.89 kg/m²) compared to T4 (1.23 kg/m²) and T2 (1.20 kg/m²). These results show that fish-breeding water combined with poultry manure can boost okra and lettuce production and would be a real asset to stimulate local agricultural development. Thus, the adoption of such an agro-ecological approach integrating fish farming and animal husbandry could increase local production and provide food of good nutritional quality.

Agroecology, Poultry, Fish Farming, Production, Yield, Nile Tilapia, Cobb 500, Okra, Lettuce

Tine, M. , Wade, S. and Sembene, M. (2022) Integration of Fish and Poultry Farming into Cropping Systems to Improve Production Yields. Open Journal of Applied Sciences, 12, 2037-2054. doi: 10.4236/ojapps.2022.1212142.