This document is an edited and slightly revised version of a previously published integrated agriculture-aquaculture (IAA) technology information kit. It contains 38 contributions in seven sections, outlining the basic issues and characteristics of IAA systems and making generous use of pictorial drawings and visual representations. Sociocultural, economic and environmental considerations in introducing IAA technologies are presented in the first four contributions. This section is followed by an overview of integrated farming systems, with six examples provided, ranging from integrated grass-fish and embankment-fish systems in the People's Republic of China, over the VAC system in northern Viet Nam to short-cycle methods in seasonal ponds and ditches in Bangladesh. The next section has four papers dealing with livestock-fish integration of chicken-, duck- and pig-based systems. Two sections with a total of 16 presentations tackle several aspects of rice-fish systems, starting with eight technical examples from five countries, including irrigation systems, and in coastal areas with shrimp and in freshwater areas with prawn. Eight more presentations give recommendations on site selection, ricefield preparation, fish stocking, feeding, rice management and integrated pest management issues within rice-fish culture. Another section with four papers deals with aspects of fish feeding and management in IAA, such as the use of animal manures, domestic sewage and biogas slurry in ponds, as well as plant sources as fish feed. The last section contains four contributions on fish breeding and nursing, focusing on fry and fingerling production and emphasizing carp species. This includes a description of carp spawning in wheat fields and fry nursing in ricefields as off-season activities, as well as fry-to-fingerling rearing in ricefields. This primer aims to give decisionmakers in governmental and non-governmental organizations and in other organizations concerned with agriculture and rural development an overview and a basis for understanding the principles of IAA, and to help them decide whether to embark on IAA activities and include these in their program portfolio. For those who work directly with farmers, this primer aims at providing good examples of IAA, but it is not intended to be a compilation of procedures that should be strictly followed. Rather, this primer should help convince its readers/users that farmers can improve their livelihoods by either introducing IAA, or by further developing and improving the many IAA opportunities on their existing farms within their communities.

Text in English