3.1.3. Collection and hatching of eggs

Unit 3 - Breeding of major carps

3.1.3. Collection and hatching of eggs

  • After spawning is over, the eggs are collected from bundhs, after lowering the water level, by dragging a piece of mosquito netting cloth (gamcha) and released for hatching either in improvised pits or double-walled hatching hapas or cement hatcheries.
  • The hatching pits (448 cm x244cm x 46 cm) are excavated on the bank with arrangement for the supply of water.
  • Each pit may contain about 0.9 to 2.2 million eggs, of which 2.5-25% hatch successfully.
  • A double-walled hapa, which is fixed in the bundh itself, consists of an outer hapa (182 cm x91 cm x 91 cm) and an inner hapa (152 cm x 76 cm x 46 cm ), accounts for a spawn survival rate of 32 to 50%.
  • The provision of cement hatcheries (2.4 m x 1.2 m x 0.3 m) near the dry bundhs in Madhya Pradesh has aided in improving the survival of hatchlings to 97%.
  • A cement hatchery of Madhya Pradesh has three times more capacity than a double-walled hapa and is far more economical than the latter. Since the collection of all the eggs is impossible, especially in the case of wet bundhs in view of their larger size, fry and fingerling collection is equally important.
Last modified: Thursday, 9 June 2011, 8:48 AM