An experiment was conducted for 76 days (26 October 2023 to 10 January 2024) in the Farm of ICAR-CIFA, Bhubaneswar focusing on the evaluation of the developed Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) aquaponics system for rearing of rohu (Labeo rohita) fingerlings and Cherry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plant. To optimize the stocking density of rohu fingerlings and cherry tomato , the experiment was conducted in six units of aquaponics system; taking three treatments (T1, T2 &T3) and a control (C) in duplicate. Fish culture tanks of C, T1, T2 and T3 were stocked with varying densities of fingerlings , i.e., 25 0, 500, 750 and 1000 numbers of ( 8±2g average weight). Each hydroponics tanks were planted with 25 numbers of cherry tomatoes (F1 Hybrid Goldie variety, Known-you seed (India) Pvt. Ltd.) plant saplings. Regular feeding and monitoring of the experiment was done and the data were collected and analysed. After 76 days of the experiment, advanced fingerlings were harvested . Results showed that the significantly higher fish fingerling weight and lengths were found in Control ( C) and Treatment T1 followed by T2 and T3. No significant differences were seen for fish survivability in the treatments. Tomato fruits harvest was significantly higher in T3 (56 4 nos ) followed by T2 (470 nos ) and T1 (322 nos). Plant growth in terms of height was observed maximum in T2 ( 192.87±14.63 cm), whereas maximum root development was found in T1 (137.45±8.15 cm). The average numbers of internodes in plant were observed significantly higher in groups T2 and T3.
Key words: NFT aquaponic system , Hydroponics tank , IMC, Fish fingerlings, Cherry tomato