TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgement Introduction General ...

technologies, which offer valuable livelihood options to the rural poor,
are available. These center around herbivorous and omnivorous
species, which can thrive on various on-farm fertilizers and feeds and
inputs that can be gathered from the wider resource system. Several
systems of fish culture are based gathered grasses and other
vegetation.
Other systems depend on fertilization strategies using animal manures.
Some cultural constraints exist in the use of manures as well as limitations
in the nature of the agricultural system, particularly where livestock are
not penned. However, the culture of some improved species of Nile
tilapia by the rural poor, with only limited applications of inorganic
fertilizer, also has been successful.
Coastal aquaculture
In northern Vietnam, aquaculture systems have centered on
grass carp for the last 40 years since its introduction from
China. This species is reared in both ponds and cages, fed with
grasses, maize residues and cassava leaves. In the south of
Vietnam, an equivalent "poor person’s system" based on giant
gourami, which also feeds on vegetable matter (although
growth rate is a constraint), exists.
In southern Vietnam, the culture of pangasius catfish (Pangasius hypophthalmus),
reared in overhung latrine ponds, is a second low-cost system. These grow quickly
without purchased inputs and can be the basis of a more diversified system.
More work has been done in freshwater aquaculture than in coastal
aquaculture in developing production systems suitable for poor people.
The culture of mollusks and seaweeds appears to have high potential,
while requiring only minimal investment. These water-based systems do
require some investment in order to develop aquaculture but, at least
initially, cages and poles for shellfish culture can be made from relatively
cheap and locally available materials like bamboo.
Most coastal aquaculture technology, however, has been aimed at
moderately high to high-value species. These species are too expensive
for household consumption of the poor people and low-cost culture
systems for these species are rare. The culture of high-value species