Fish production can be made to almost double in ponds by introducing mola (Amblypharyngodon mola) with other carp, shows a research of WorldFish Centre in Dhaka.

“Before our intervention, three tonnes of fish were produced in a one-hectare pond, now fish production has increased to over 5.5 tonnes, of which one tonne is mola fish,” Dr Benoy Kumar Barman, senior scientist of WorldFish Bangladesh and South Asia, told the news agency.

Mola has double the financial value of other fish ehe WorldFish scientist said.

In 2010, WorldFish Bangladesh with support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development launched a project on innovative fish production technologies in ponds and wetlands with small fish species.

The WorldFish survey shows that the contribution of small fish, including mola, to total fish production was only 4.5 percent before the intervention of the project.

In 2011, the contribution was 15 percent and it was 31 percent in 2012 of which the contribution of mola was 21 percent and other small fishes 10 percent.

[Source: The Daily Star. Full article]