Ansal et al., 2010. Livest. Res. Rural Dev., 22 (7)

Village pond is an integral part of rural India which is primarily constructed for harvesting rain water and bathing of domestic livestock. Through suitable scientific interventions these manmade water resources can be utilized for economic gains as well. But unfortunately, they are used only as dumping sites for disposing of human and animal waste which leads to pollution and Eutrophication due to accumulation of excess nutrients (nitrates and phosphates). Although these ponds hold immense potential for producing high quality food through aquaculture for rural development in developing countries but due to poor management and deteriorating water quality, full aquaculture potential of these resources have not been realized so far. It is therefore, vital to reclaim and manage these water bodies to its optimum productivity status through some appropriate rural friendly scientific technologies.  Effective waste water treatments through conventional methods, which rely on heavy aeration, are expensive to install and operate. Hence, there is need to explore some non-conventional methods which are not only economically viable and easy to operate but eco-friendly as well. For remediation of village ponds, the first step is to remove the excess nutrients dumped in it. For this purpose, plant based bio-remediation (phyto-remediation) technology is the most promising option. Any aquatic plant that is capable of recovering or extracting nutrients or pollutants and has a fast growth rate coupled with high nutritive value is an excellent candidate for bio-remediation of waste waters. Such plants grow very fast utilizing waste water nutrients and also yield cost effective protein rich plant biomass as a by-product. Duckweeds hold immense potential for both nutrient recovery and utilization as fodder or feed for livestock including fish. Wastewater-duckweed-aquaculture is a perfect eco-friendly integrated package for converting the waste water nutrients into high quality fish protein and augmenting rural economy through generating employment opportunities and additional food security.