~ 2656 ~ Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 2017; 5(6): 2656-2661 E-ISSN: 2320-7078 P-ISSN: 2349-6800 JEZS 2017; 5(6): 2656-2661 © 2017 JEZS Received: 29-09-2017 Accepted: 30-10-2017 Banasree Biswas Ph. D. Research Scholar, Department of Aquaculture, Faculty of Fishery Sciences, West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences, Sarani, Kolkata, West Bengal, India SK Das Professor, Department of Aquaculture, Faculty of Fishery Sciences, West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences, Sarani, Kolkata, West Bengal, India Amit Mandal Assistant Professor, College of Fisheries, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University Sarani, Ludhiana, Punjab, India. Correspondence SK Das Professor, Department of Aquaculture, Faculty of Fishery Sciences, West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences, Sarani, Kolkata, West Bengal, India Alterations in the management practices of composite farming of Indian Major Carps in 24 Parganas (N) district, West Bengal Banasree Biswas, SK Das and Amit Mandal Abstract The present status and deviations from the classical management practices of composite farming of Indian major carps (IMC) have been investigated in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, India. Classical six species combination, ratio of IMC and exotic carps were not being followed by the farmers in general, as 75% of them cultured carps with 7-10 species with a stoking density of 15000 nos. fingerling ha -1 . 71.68% farmers who produced more than 5 tonnes ha -1 yr -1 stocked their pond twice in a year instead of once. Although the number of species stocked by the farmers was highly variable among the farmers, it was found that six species combination was optimal so, far the production level is concerned (y= -0.163x 2 +2.018x-0.38; R 2 = 0.68). Application of 350-400 kg ha -1 agricultural lime and 200-250 kg ha -1 fertilizer (urea + single super phosphate = 1:1) to achieve annual yield, was found to be optimal towards fish production. Production level declined as the depth of the pond increased from 5 to 9 feet. Inclusion of readily available carbohydrate source like molasses and boiled starch in supplementary feed preparation was conspicuous. Most of the respondents stock a variety of species and many of them (mrigal, bata, black carp, punti, prawn) can effectively use the heterotrophic pathway of production utilizing the benthic detritus, the feed types adopted by the respondents were proved to be beneficial in attaining such satis1factory production level. Incorporation of variable ingredients with the conventional mixture of rice bran and oil cake proved to be superior as feed than the later usually recommended in composite farming of carps. The remarkable introductions in the original six species combination were minor carps like bata (Labeo bata), Japani punti (Puntius javanicus), tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus); minor fish like mola (Amblypharyngodon mola) carplet and scampi (Macrobrachium rosenbergii). Majority of the farmers used to stock more silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) because of it’s high growth rate though it exerted a direct bearing upon catla (Catla catla). Keywords: Composite culture, management practice, 24 Parganas (N) 1. Introduction India is the second largest country in inland fish production in the world [4] . Besides providing livelihood security to more than 14 million people, aquaculture established itself as one of the major foreign exchange earners, with revenue of Rs.10, 048 crores in 2010-2011 amounting to 18% of total agricultural export from India. The major contribution to the bulk of production over 3.02 million tones comes from Indian major carps, namely catla ( Catla catla), rohu (Labeo rohita) and mrigal (Cirrhinus mrigala) [6] . Though the fish production increased from 0.7 million tonnes in 1951 to 8.6 million tonnes in 2011-12 [4] where aquaculture contributed 78% of the country's total fish production India has not yet been able to make use of its diverse potential satisfactorily [9] . Polyculture of compatible fish species is the most ecologically sound fish culture practice which facilitates efficient utilization of all ecological zones within the pond environment enhancing the maximum standing crop [11] . Carp polyculture wherein the species composition with compatible species of Indian major carps (catla: Catla catla; rohu: Labeo rohita; mrigal: Cirrhinus mrigala) and exotic carps together in the same pond known as composite culture was introduced by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research during the 1970s. Introduction of three exotic Asian carps namely grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) and common carp (Cyprinus carpio) in India as the component of composite fish culture has resulted in enhanced aquaculture productivity [15, 2] . The production potential and economic viability of carp polyculture in India have already