| Abstract | Integrated farming practiced based on a pond has become the new trend of agriculture development in Northeast Thailand. Where pond are constructed, became one of the standard subsystem of the farm. As pond in integrated farm are multipurpose, this study reviewed the existing practice in integrated farming system and study the implication of each activities on aquaculture development. It was found that pond can be categorized into three groups based on the level of depth (1) shallow (2.9 m). The percentage of shallow pond, medium, and deep pond were 22.0, 45.5, and 32.5 %, respectively. Shallow pond are primarily for fish culture while deep ponds are used primarily for irrigating vegetables and fruit trees. New ponds are deeper than old pond and are in general deeper than 2 m. About 27% of fish culture practice in integrated farm was found to be monoculture of catfish. The production of shallow, medium, and deep pond were 1,106, 1,790, and 3, 193 kg/ha/season, respectively. For herbivorous fish, the production was not different by the depth of pond. The range of herbivorous fish production was 1,704 -2,090 kg/ha/season. Based on the level of water in the pond at the end of April, pond can be classified as: sufficient water for fish (0.5-1.0), insufficient water for fish (1.0 m). The land use pattern for water surface area, planted area, and homestead area of farm households that have sufficient water for fish culture were 45:40:15% (9:8:3) for shallow pond, 30:55:15% (6:11 :3) for medium pond, and 15:70:15% (3:14:3) for deep pond. Contrary to the general believe that water is the most limiting factor, the study did not find availability of water to be the main constraint in aquaculture development. Farmers gave highest priority of water use to vegetable production, followed by fruit production, fish production, livestock production and household water utilization. While vegetable and fruit compete directly for quality of water for fish culture and so required that pond be deeper than optimal level for fish culture. The use of water for household utilization and livestock production did not compete for quantity of water, but discouraged fertilization of ponds. Technical know-how in fish culture appeared to be the most important constraint for aquaculture development. |