Hi ECHO family!
I’m in West Africa, and looking to start some fish ponds in the lowland area of our farm. Last year, we did rice production with approximately 35 paddies in this area. It was too labor intensive, and now I am trying to see if raising tilapia would work instead. The water depth is between 1 m to 18 cm, depending on the paddy. The berms are broken down in a lot of places, so they will need fixed.
My concern is draining. I see the ECHO community notes advice against the lowland because it’s harder to drain. Our site mostly dries out entirely each dry season. How would you advise I raise Tilapia in this seasonally flooded lowland? Would you advise against it entirely? Our sites have water from roughly the end of April to the end of October or mid November. If I don’t do tilapia in this lowland, do you have alternative ideas for something less labor intensive than rice? Thanks!