Merging the best of the Green and Blue Revolutions : Integrating aquaculture with agriculture

1
Merging the best of the Green and Blue
Revolutions Integrating aquaculture with
agriculture

• Kevin Fitzsimmons University of Arizona,
  Professor
• World Aquaculture Society, Past-President
• American Tilapia Association, Sec./Tres.

2
Global food crisis

• Rapidly increasing population
• Diversion of foods to fuels
• Increased costs for water, fertilizer, fuel
• Multiple demands for farmland (urban sprawl,
  industrial and mining, solar and wind generation,
  wildlife conservation, watershed protection,
  etc.)
• Need for second generation biofuels

3
Need new model for food production

• Green Revolution huge increase in food
  production, but heavy reliance on irrigation,
  fuel and fertilizer
• Blue Revolution almost 50 of seafood is farm
  raised, but many environmental impacts (effluents
  causing eutrophication, algae blooms, cage
  conflicts with other users in oceans, bays and
  lakes)

4
Green Revolution

• Benefits

• Costs

• Large increases in yield
• Improved varieties
• Needs
• Increased demand for trained specialists
• Sophisticated farmers

• Large demand for fertilizer
• Increases in irrigation (area, amount, frequency)
• Less organic
• More pollution
• Needs
• More education training

5
Blue Revolution

• Benefits

• Costs

• Large increases in seafood yield
• Domesticated stocks
• Needs
• Increased demand for trained specialists
• Sophisticated farmers

• Demand for feeds with fishmeal
• Demands for clean water (volume and surface area)
• Diseases and parasites
• Effluent pollution, algae
• Needs
• On-land farms
• More education training

6
Historical perspective

• Traditional farming around the world integrated
  livestock and crops
• East and South Asian farmers have long tradition
  of integrating agriculture and aquaculture
• Asian sustainable farming systems support huge
  populations
• Fish vegetable rice (complex carb) diet is
  suggested by most nutrition experts

7
Historical perspective

• Modern agriculture cannot follow Asian model of
  small-farm integrated systems (gardening)
• We need an industrial version merging aqua- and
  agri- cultures
• Taking the best of the Green and Blue Revolutions
  

8
Green Revolutions weaknesses are Blue Revolutions
needs and vice-versa

1. Fertilizer demand
2. Increase in irrigation
3. Chemical fertilizers pollute groundwater
4. Industrial crops with by-products

1. Aquaculture effluent rich in N and P
2. Fish grow well in irrigation water
3. Fish wastes are slow release, organic
4. Fish feeds need alternatives for fish meal and
   oil

9
Models

• Arid lands
• Tropical lands
• Tropical coastal
• Temperate lands
• Marine

10
Arid Integrated Systems

• Tilapia Grapes, wheat, olives, barley,
  sorghum, cotton, melons, peppers

11
Data report Tilapia effluents irrigating cotton

• Water pH reduced from 8.3 to 8.0
• Added 19.7 kg/ha total N during one crop.

12
Olives with aquaculture effluent
Olives with well water
13
Data report -Olives irrigated with effluent
14
Tropical Inland Integrated Systems

• Tilapia oil palm, rice, sugar cane

15
Coastal Integrated Systems

• Shrimp / fish Halophytes and seaweeds

16
Fish-shrimp-halophytes Eritrea
17
Shrimp and Salicornia (halophyte)
18
Temperate Integrated Systems

• Carp vegetables
• Catfish soybeans, corn
• Trout alfalfa, vegetables
• Aquaponics

19
Marine Integrated Systems

• Salmon kelps, nori, mussels
• Shrimp seaweeds and oysters
• Fish seaweeds, bivalves

20
Shrimp/fish and edible seaweeds
21
Data report - Daily growth rates of Gracilaria
with shrimp effluent over 4 weeks
growth per day
22
Why Tilapia ?

• Second most important farmed fish after the carps
• Most widely grown of any farmed fish
• In 2007 moved up to fifth most popular seafood in
  the US

23
Whats needed next?

• Large scale investment
• Best technologies of ag and aqua
• Economies of scale
• Governmental consideration
• Trained production staff and semi-skilled farming
  staff

24
Multiple use of Water Gila Farms, AZ