Photo credit: Mustafa Koweka (Syria) Review: Abdel Rahman El Gamal (Founder of the website)
The photo shows a group of cattle while grazing weeds grown on the dykes of fish ponds. The shown practice is a type of biological control of unwanted plants in fish ponds in which cattle acquire a part of their daily feed from these plants. In large fish farms, such process is performed based on contracts that normally ensure that no damage to pond dyke could result from the cattle movement and grazing and also specifying the time of the day during which animals are permitted to stay on the farm.
Typically, this process takes place during the day time. Afterwards, the cattle herd leaves the fish farm and stay the night in a nearby place until the following day to repeat the same practice till the end of the agreed-upon period. Usually, cattle are attended by the herd farmers who are responsible for abiding the agreement. The fish farm while get their pond dykes reasonably cleared at no cost, the farm still receives an additional income for allowing such practice to occur in a win-win situation.
