Finfish Breeding and Hatchery Management (2+1)

Unit 3 - Breeding of major carps

3.1. Bundhs

• Bundhs are special type of tanks or impoundments where riverine conditions are simulated during monsoon months for breeding carps.
• They may be perennial (wet bundhs) or seasonal (dry bundhs).
• Bundh breeding, which accounted for 5.4% in 1964-65, contributed to about 63% in 1980.
• Bundh breeding is popular in Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.
• Bundh breeding seems to have its origin in West Bengal.
• Majority of bundh-type of tanks, where major carps are known to breed, are located in the districts of Midnapore and Bankura in West Bengal and around Nowgong in the Chhattarpur district of Madhya Pradesh.
• The first dry bundh was located in Sonar Talliya in Nowgong district of Madhya Pradesh.
• The initial success achieved by the Department of Fisheries, Government of Madhya Pradesh, during 1958 in dry bundh breeding of carps in Sonar Talliya led to the construction of many more dry bundhs with improved designs.
• The most modern constructions are generally masonry structures with arrangements for a sluice gate in the deepest portion of bundh for complete draining and one or two waste weirs for overflow of excess water.
• In most cases, apart from the bundh itself, a dry bundh unit consists of storage ponds for stocking breeders, an observation tower with arrangements for storing necessary equipment and a set of cemented hatcheries (2.4m x 1.2m x 0.3m) with a regular supply of water for a large number of eggs at a short time.
• In some cases, the embankment is a pucca stone masonry with a small sluice gate and a portion of the embankment itself serves as the waste weir (Dubey, 1969).