Ducks do aerate; Bipob Deb wasn’t wrong this time, claims scientist of ICFRE

A scientist working with the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) has said that Bipob Deb was right when he said that ‘ducks can increase oxygen levels in water bodies by swimming.’

Infact, Biplob Deb, who has a habit of making bizarre statements, has landed him in a controversy for saying that ducks can increase oxygen levels in water bodies by swimming in them. He said, “When ducks swim in water, oxygen level automatically increases in the water body. It (oxygen) gets recycled. Fish in the water will get more oxygen. They also benefit from the bird droppings. Thus, pisciculture will benefit and fishes will grow faster, that too in a completely organic way.”

Biplab Kumar Deb said he wants to distribute ducks among villagers in the state because he believes they will boost the rural economy. But the chief minister also claims ducks provide additional benefits: he says they recycle water, and their swimming increases oxygen levels in water bodies. He also said he wanted to distribute ducks among villagers in his state because they would boost the rural economy.

Deb was addressing an inaugural event of a traditional boat race at Rudrasagar, an artificial lake around water palace Neermahal, when he made the statement. The chief minister told the audience that he planned to distribute 50,000 ducklings to fishermen who lived near the lake.

This statement of Deb though was crticised on all fronts, but there came a twist in the story when A Debbarma, a scientist with the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) ‘ducks do aerate, this has been proved through studies.’ The scientist claimed that, Deb was right in claiming that duck droppings help fish. “Duck-fish farming is integrated farming. Ducks’ excreta helps the growth of fish. Ducks are natural aerators and help in increasing the oxygen level. This has been proved through studies.

CM’s OSD Sanjay Mishra launched into a detailed explanation as to how Deb had been misunderstood. He said “A research by Chhattisgarh’s Indira Gandhi Agriculture University states that when ducks swim, atmospheric phosphate and other minerals are created which help in the growth of green algae, the primary source of generation of oxygen in the water…Ducks are considered useful for that purpose since ancient time. There is scientific evidence of the same. There’s an organisation the professor of which conducted research that ducks aerate water by swimming. They’re biological aerators.”