Winter pond fish farming has many benefits, and winter is the right time to farm

Guangdong Province is located in the tropical and subtropical zones, with abundant water and heat resources. Taking the Guangzhou area as an example, the annual average temperature is above 23°C, and even in the coldest month, January, the average temperature still reaches around 13°C. This natural advantage is very favorable for carrying out "winter farming" of pond fish.

Practice in various places has proven that "winter farming" of pond fish has many benefits: First, when the weather is cold and the water temperature is lower, the organic matter and fertilizer in the pond decompose slowly, the pond water is fresh, and oxygen is sufficient, which is conducive to rapid growth and easy fattening of pond fish; Second, because the weather is colder, bacteria and parasites in the pond are not easy to reproduce and grow, so pond fish have fewer diseases and a high survival rate; Third, farmers can make full use of idle winter land to widely plant vegetables and green manure, cut grass to feed fish, and can also collect harvested sugarcane tops as well as bran, wheat bran, distillers' grains, and oilseed meal left after processing agricultural by-products to feed fish, making green and concentrated feed easy to obtain; Fourth, doing a good job in winter farming helps regulate the off-season for pond fish from March to May of the following year, making the market supply more even and ensuring increased production and income.

So, how should "winter farming" of pond fish be carried out? First, the stocking ratio of bighead carp and silver carp should be properly adjusted. Both of these fish are upper-layer filter-feeding fish. If they are stocked in equal amounts at the same time, they will indirectly compete for food and affect growth. Bighead carp mainly eats zooplankton, and generally can reproduce in large numbers only when the water temperature rises above 22°C; silver carp mainly eats phytoplankton, and can still grow normally when the water temperature drops to within 14°C. Therefore, we should take advantage of their seasonal differences and advocate farming silver carp in winter and bighead carp in summer. In the current overwintering stage, in village-side ponds, doorstep ponds, and fertile-water ponds on the outskirts of towns and cities, phytoplankton is especially abundant. For each mu, 90-120 silver carp of 10-15 cm and 20 bighead carp should be stocked. After the water temperature rises in May of the following year, the original stocking habit should be restored and the stocking amount of bighead carp increased. In this way, each mu can increase production by 150-200 kg of silver carp and 50 kg of carp and crucian carp. Second, grass carp, blunt snout bream, and other fish are the mainstay during the "winter farming" period of pond fish. Their characteristics are fast growth, high survival rate, and great production potential, so they must be farmed more and well. The specific method is: first gather the scattered grass carp and carry out graded rearing according to three sizes: above 1 kg, 0.75 kg, and 0.5 kg, stocking about 150-200 fish per mu for each grade. Grass carp above 1 kg are in the fattening stage, mainly fed concentrated feed such as pellet feed, malt, and corn kernels, with 5-7 kg fed per day for every 100 kg of grass carp; grass carp of 0.75-0.5 kg should be fed mainly with green feed, using a combination of green and concentrated feed, with 1-3 kg of concentrated feed and 20-40 kg of green feed per day for every 100 kg of grass carp. Feeding must adhere to fixed time, fixed quantity, fixed quality, and fixed location to ensure that the grass carp eat well and are full, grow quickly and fatten easily, and achieve high yield and greater harvest. The feces and leftover bait excreted by grass carp provide feed for other pond fish, so there is no need to feed the other fish separately.