Mechanized Pond Applicator (MPA): A Gadget for Large Aquaculture Pond

Background
A large aquaculture pond (>2 ha) has the management limitation in terms of difficulty in uniform application of inputs such as lime, fertilizer, organic manure and therapeutics, etc., due to inaccessibility of central pond area from dyke. Though floating rafts or boats are used for applying the inputs, the process is always cumbersome and labour intensive, and also ineffective due to non-uniform spread of the inputs, leading to poor result.
Technology Details
The ’Mechanized Pond Applicator (MPA)’ ensures uniform application of lime, organic manure, inorganic fertilizers, medicines or therapeutics in large culture pond. It significantly reduces labour requirement and eases the culture operation in large ponds.
The MPA is a specially designed raft with a central mixing tank. Pond water drawn with gravity flow into the central tank dilutes/mixes the inputs, which is subsequently collected in a chamber. The diluted mixture can be further diluted in this chamber as per requirement. The diluted mixture is sprayed over pond surface using a kerosene operated pump with a modified bifurcated and duck mouth shaped outlets. The MPA can be loaded with approximately 800 kg of input at a time. Besides, the water spraying mechanism of MPA has also proven it to be an efficient aerating device in emergency low dissolved oxygen situation. The MPA is can also be used for feeding in interior area of the pond.