Preface

The FAO Better Farming Series is essentially based on the Cours d'apprentissage agricole prepared in the Ivory Coast by the Institut africain de développement économique et social for use by extension workers in contact with illiterate or semi- literate farmers. The approach is deliberately a general one, the intention being to constitute basic prototype outlines, to be supplemented in each area according to local conditions of agriculture.

Many of the booklets deal with specific crops, while others, such as this one, are intended to give the farmer information concerning the general agricultural context, and thus to allow him to gain some understanding of why he does what he does, so that he will be able to do it better.

Adaptations of the series, or of individual volumes in it, have been published, among others, in Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, Creole, Hindi, Igala, Indonesian, Kiswahili, Malagasy, SiSwati and Turkish. This Impressive list is some indication of the success, and also of the value, of the series. This volume is based on FAO Training Series No. 4/1, Water for Freshwater Fish Culture, prepared by the Inland Water Resources and Aquaculture Service, Fisheries Department, FAO.

Requests for permission to issue this manual in other languages and to adapt it according to local climatic and ecological conditions are welcomed. They should be addressed to the Director, Publications Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Via delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy.