Vol. 11, Special Issue 7 (2022)

Author(s):
Mayurkumar Tandel, Dr. RK Sadawarte, Dr. VB Mulye, Dr. JM Koli, Dr. BR Chavan and Bhavika Tandel

Abstract:
Engineering and design aspects of brackish water farm is an important aspect for development and sustainability of brackish water aquaculture. There were 54 operational brackish water farms were selected by random sampling from six different research sites (OS1, OS2, OS3, OS4, CS1, CS2) of Surat district. All sample farms were divided into tide fed, tide cum pump fed and pump fed farms, they were also divided into small (<2 ha), medium (2-5 ha) and large (>5 ha) size farm. Design aspects such as pond area, length, width, depth, bottom slope, peripheral and partitional dike were measured. Some other engineering aspects such as feeder canal, subsidiary canal, drainage canal and sluice gate of the ponds were measured during this study. Soil characteristics like pH, electrical conductivity, water retention capacity, bulk density and soil moisture of the farms were ranged 7.6 to 9.3, 3.2 to 24.0 dS/m, 21 to 66%, 0.3 to 1.4 g/cm³ and 9.6 to 41.2% respectively. The observed soil texture varied from clay loam, sandy clay loam to sandy clay. Proper design and engineering aspects are recommended for better production and for reducing the erosion effects by tidal amplitude, construction of berm is recommended outside the peripheral dike.