A SOCIAL STUDY ON

UNDERSTANDING THE SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACT OF

TRANSFORMATION OF A GROUP OF PEOPLE FROM AGRICULTURE TO
SHRIMP BASED AQUACULTURE
Amit Kumar Chatterjee, BM/July/06/19/1476, PGDM-RM Batch 2006-2008
Faculty of Management Studies-Institute of Rural Management
IIRM Campus, Tagore Marg, Mansarovar,
Jaipur-302020, Rajasthan (India)
Tel.: 0141-2395402, 2396648, 2399071
Mobile Number-09314594292
Fax: 0141-2397512
e-mail: amit_tusan@yahoo.co.uk, amittusan@gmail.com

Under the guidance of

FACULTY GUIDE-Prof.Swati Sethi

CORPORATE GUIDES-Mr.A.Anurag Danda, Mr. Subhro Sen

WORLD WIDE FUND FOR NATURE-INDIA

&

Faculty of Management Studies

Institute of Rural Management
Summer Internship Programme - 2007

1
 BACKGROUND AND PROBLEM STATEMENT

Everyone knows that Bengalis are fond of fish and private consumption of fish is highest
in West Bengal. In last two decades West Bengal became major contributing state in fish
and seafood exports also. The major exporting product being shrimp and the area under
shrimp culture is approximately 46,750 ha. State of West Bengal is also the second
largest producer only after Andhra Pradesh)1.
From industrial point of view production is very important because profit is their sole
motive and more profit will result into more money distribution in the whole market
chain. Now the Sundarbans Region aqua farmers are having continuous bad production
due to unsustainable land usage.
Continuous bad production is harmful for the good will of West Bengal shrimp as a
whole and that affects the whole market chain. If the demand of West Bengal shrimp is
less; people of different level will be in great trouble.

2
Objectives of the study

1. To understand the socio economic impact of agro to aqua practice conversion.

2. To understand the consequences of such conversion on the shrimp industry
and the actors involved in it, particularly the tiger shrimp PL collectors and
local PL nursing centers.

Analysis
The past occupation of the people was mainly agriculture and allied activities. Among the
ten aqua farmers surveyed by me five men were dependent on only agriculture at past,
two aqua farmers were fisherman and they used to catch fish on the riverside. Rest three
aqua farmer did small business and fishery in freshwater pond along with agriculture.
It is quite obvious that the present occupation of the aqua farmers will be aquaculture but
it most cases in the present scenario the income from secondary occupation is becoming
greater than income from primary occupation i.e. aquaculture. It is due to less profit or
loss in aquaculture. It will be evident from the cost benefit analysis of the practice. The
secondary occupations are Kutcha house material making, Auctioning of fish (Aratdar),
Private tuition, pump set renting business, Decorator, Small business like tea shop,
Agriculture.

It has been noticed that the farmers who depend on only aquaculture have lifelong
experience of fishing, other five farmers started aquaculture after land conversion.

3
 Fixed Cost’2006(rupees)
Own land use cost Land lease Panchayat Tax Land Revenue
cost
M.Mollah 38,000.00 150.00 280.00
B.Das 39000.00
Khokon Das 19000.00 209000.00 75.00 1400.00
K.Das 57000.00 81000.00 225.00 3000.00
M.Sardar 10500.00 15.00 280.00
S.Sardar 28500.00 112.00 1387.00
J.Sardar 28500.00 9500.00 112.00 937.00
A.Mollah 22800.00 9500.00 90.00 1800.00
S.Kamila 15200.00 14000.00 60.00 680.00
A.Bhowmick 36100.00 125.00 2500.00
Variable Cost’2006(rupees)
P.M.Seed Feed Fert & Labour Market Other Misc.
cost cost Chem. cost ing seed
cost
M.Mollah 35000 2000 3500 7000
B.Das 27000 3000 2000 10000 2000 2000 720
Khokon Das 83000 20000 12000 36000 3500 24000 61000
K.Das 200000 12000 13000 33000 14000
M.Sardar 7600 780 1500
S.Sardar 15000 5000 3000 2000 2500 3500
J.Sardar 25000 1100 2500 1800 2500
A.Mollah 20000 10000 10000 1000 1000 6000
S.Kamila 15000 2000 3000 3000 500 2500
A.Bhowmick 14500 1000 4000 2000 1000 4000

Total Revenue Revenue from Revenue- Total Cost

Cost=V.C+F.C from P.M other fishes
M.Mollah 88450.00 21000.00 19500.00 -ve
B.Das 85000.00 90000.00 10000.00 15000.00
Khokon Das 468975.00 656100.00 108000.00 295025.00
K.Das 413225.00 400000.00 100000.00 86775.00
M.Sardar 20675.00 5000.00 3000.00 -ve
S.Sardar 62000.00 50000.00 24000.00 12000.00
J.Sardar 71949.00 80000.00 20000.00 28051.00

4
A.Mollah 82190.00 80000.00 17000.00 14810.00
S.Kamila 55940.00 25000.00 1400.00 -ve
A.Bhowmick 65225.00 100000.00 20000.00 54775.00
Comments on the economical condition
Farmer’s Name Profit Comments
per hec.
M.Mollah Own land so arrives at B.E.P.
B.Das 9124 Able to survive because of private tuition
Khokon Das 43069 Achieved profit and he is well aware of his technique and
procedure of farming by experience
K.Das 15080 He is happy with this result because he has some amount of land
and he is successful because of auctioning business.
M.Sardar Pump Set renting business is working for his family, secondary
income > Primary income.
S.Sardar 11678 Slight profit, here also secondary occupation is important.
J.Sardar 20475 Again dependent on secondary occupation after achieving small
profit in aquaculture.
A.Mollah 12717 Got profit and does not know why he got profit past year and this
year due to disease he did not get profit.
S.Kamila Dependent on his fish auctioning business.
A.Bhowmick 42086 Traditional farmer and he also do not know how he get profit.

Socioeconomic status of aqua farmers and seed collectors

Number of employed people (aqua farmer)
Name of aqua Experienc Male Female Employed
farmers e
M.Mollah 32 6 2 4
B.Das 7 3 1 1
Khokon Das 25 5 5 2
K.Das 30 4 4 4
M.Sardar 7 3 2 1
S.Sardar 7 4 2 2
J.Sardar 7 5 4 5
A.Mollah 18 4 2 1
S.Kamila 10 3 2 1
A.Bhowmick 10 2 3 1
30 Illiterates 39 27 22

5
Number of employed people (seed collector)
Name of seed Experi Male Female Family Employ
collectors ence strength ed
A 18 1 1 7 3
B Ch 2 1 5 2
C 30 1 1 4 3
D Ch 2 3 5 2
E 20 3 2 5 2
F 40 3 3 6 3
G 40 1 1 7 3
H 25 1 2 6 2
I 10 2 2 5 2
J 25 1 1 10 5
K 25 1 1 7 3
L 10 0 2 8 3
M 30 1 1 8 3
N 22 1 1 4 2
O Ch 1 0 5 1
P Ch 0 1 3 1
Q 12 1 1 5 1
R 25 2 1 7 2
S 15 1 4 6 2
T 10 1 2 8 2

6
26 31 121 47

7
The general preference of farmers is wild seed, which leads to environmental
degradation. What are the causes behind the common perception of the farmers that wild
seed is better than hatchery seeds?
According to the farmers the causes are:
i) Hatchery seed have lower immunity power than wild seed so they are vulnerable to
disease.
ii) When seed comes from other states the Rich aqua farmers/ business man take all
good quality seeds and only bad quality seed is available.
iii) Hatchery seeds are born in Tamilnadu, Andra Pradesh & Orissa. When farmers give
hatchery seed in their pond they are not able to survive there because of changed
physical condition.
iv) Due to greater demand of hatchery seed the hatcheries hatch seeds from 150-300 gm
Mother/Queen Penaeus monodon but it should be of 500 gm are more to get good
quality seed. So when Mother’s are not of optimum size the seeds also cannot grow
more than optimum size. When the farmers try to make them big they all dies at a
time and farmers face huge loss.
v) Two to three times breeding of one mother fish does not yield good quality seed.

8
Credit and extension services

Government or Non-government support is almost zero in this area. So the farmers

face severe funding problem. Bank does not provide them any loan nor does the
fishery department arrange loan for them. They borrow money at season beginning
from local moneylenders. Local NGO Joygopalpur Youth Development Centre
formed female SHG groups and the loan given to the SHG members were used also
in aquaculture and money was vested, no one paid the loan back.
One or two farmers take personal credit from bank. But when Fishery department
provided loan via banks they didn’t pay back that time also due to bad harvest or
unwillingness to repay the money as the amount was of medium size.

Nevertheless if micro credit was available to them then also they had to take money
form moneylenders who are auctioneers of fish. As the current market mechanism
does not allow them to sell the fishes directly to the shrimp export industries, if they
do not take any money from them then also auctioneer will take a commission from
them to sell the fishes.

Because of this reason the farmers think that it is better to borrow money from them
and a strong buy back mechanism exists between the aqua farmers and auctioneers.
Table 6 contains the details of loans or borrowings.

9
Amount of financial support to the farmers
Farmers Name 2005 2006 2007
M.Mollah Rs.20000 Rs.10000 Rs.20000
FISHERY DEPT. via AUCTIONEER
UBI
M.Sardar Rs.5000 Rs.5000 AUCTIONEER Rs.5000
AUCTIONEER Rs.35000 AUCTIONEER
BENFISH FOR CRAB
FARMING
K.Das Rs. 20000
FISHERY DEPT. via
UBI
S.Kamila Rs.35000 Rs.5000
BENFISH FOR CRAB SHG loan through wife
FARMING
Khokan Das Rs.150000 Rs.150000 Rs.200000
AUCTIONEER AUCTIONEER AUCTIONEER
B.Das Rs.6000 Rs.10000 Rs.10000
AUCTIONEER AUCTIONEER AUCTIONEER
J.Sardar Rs.15000 Rs.35000 Rs.15000
AUCTIONEER BENFISH FOR CRAB AUCTIONEER
FARMING
Rs.15000
AUCTIONEER
S.Sardar Rs.11000 Rs.3000 Rs.3000
FROM AUCTIONEER AUCTIONEER
PANCHAYET
Rs.3000
A.Bhowmik Rs.5000 Rs.5000 AUCTIONEER Rs.5000
AUCTIONEER RS.15000 AUCTIONEER
PERSONAL CREDIT
FROM UBI
A.Mollah Rs.6000 Rs.7000 AUCTIONEER Rs.9500
AUCTIONEER AUCTIONEER

10
Table makes it clear that the amount borrowed from the local moneylenders is so small
that they can survive without taking this loan. Every person who takes money from Bank
(personal credit) or moneylender pays back the money in time but in case of government
loan they do not repay the loan. This does not mean that they have enough money for
betterment of their practice; they need funds to upgrade the current system. Now they
have to use low cost inputs, as they do not have sufficient money, which ultimately
results in harvest failure.

Impact of shrimp disease outbreak and measures taken

11
 All respondents face a common problem, it is disease. Nor they, neither I know whether it
is because of vines or anything else. Like less feed, excessive pollution of water or less
oxygen in the pond.
In general view it is disease. From table 8 show how disease affected the farmers
throughout the years.
Disease and losses
Name of the Disease affected month during the following Loss amount during the year
Farmer year
2005 2006 2007 2005 2006 2007
M.Mollah March, March, April March, April Rs.5180
April
M.Sardar May, June -do- -do- Rs.7500
& continued
K.Das March - March - July March - July Rs.40000 Rs.150000
July
S.Kamila Feb.- March Feb. March, Feb. March Rs.11000 Rs.4000
May
Khokan Das March - -do- -do- Rs.200000
July
B.Das March, July, August X Rs.10000 Rs.15000
April
J.Sardar April, June February DATA NOT AVAILABLE
S.Sardar March- June -do- -do- DATA NOT AVAILABLE
A.Bhowmik X X X DATA NOT AVAILABLE
A.Mollah X March, April March, April Rs.50000 Rs.20000

Shrimp based aquaculture and its impact on livelihood and ecology

Till now the description was about the procedures. Any one can realize after reading the
report that their path of aqua farming is covered by thrones and they are feeling the pain
in every footstep.

12
The conversion of land in Bermajur-I had specific impacts, which year by year changed
the livelihood pattern and ecology both.
Socioeconomic impact
a Seed & disease: The farmers do not know why quality seeds also being affected.
Unavailability of quality hatchery seed is a problem indeed but wild seed and
good quality hatchery seeds are also being affected by disease. So they are facing
huge loss.

b Feed: There are many species in the pond, as the farmers do not want to take the
risk of cultivating only one species and there is less and lesser amount of natural
feed in the pond. The fishes and shrimp are not getting enough food in the pond
so when the seed density is very low production is good but when it is normal
disease is more prominent

c Funding and marketing: The villagers are not able to market their fishes in a
profitable manner because when they are borrowing money from some one he has
to sell his fishes there so he can not get enough profit from this existing marketing
chain of shrimp.

When any type of transformation occurs in an area it is quite obvious that the people with
more money will get more benefit, the actual needy people do not get the benefit and this
comment was told hundred times during the survey of farmers and seed collectors. The
strong buy back mechanism between seed collector, seed agent and aqua farmer,
auctioneer was described before due to which farmers are unable to get right price.
Secondly as they do not have any other option they have to give certain commission to
The auctioneer if the farmer has his own resources also. In the case of seed collectors
their daily catch is so low that they are not able to see the seeds directly to the farmers,
the seed agent collects all the PLs at a time and when they gather 10-1200 seeds they sell
it to the farmers .For selling the wild seeds they do not have to face much problem
because the demand of wild seed in this area is high due to the common misconceptions

13
about hatchery seeds. Table on the next page gives the detail of the rates of the wild seed
and P.monodon, which will further help to understand the current market scenario.

TABLE 9 Wild seed price pattern

Name of 10 YEARS AGO 5 YEARS AGO NOW
seed (RUPEES) (RUPEES/1000) (RUPEES/1000)
collectors
A 150-160 150-500 60-300
B 30-150 700 350-400

14
C 30 700-1000 300-500
D
E 150-300 1500 100-500
F 150-300 1500 100-500
G 100-300 400 250-700
H 150-300 1500 100-500
I 150-300 1500 100-500
J 150-300 1500 100-500
K 500-600 1500 350
L 600-800 250-350
M 100-300 200-300 250-300
N 200-300 300-400 250-300
O 500-800 200-300
P 1500-2200 200-800
Q 150-800
R 150-700 1000-2000 100-700
S 50-400 700-1500 350-600
T 60-300 850-2000 400-550
30-700 850-2000 60-800

Demand and supply of tiger shrimp post larvae

From the rate of wild seed given by the seed collectors of Bermajur-I it can be said that
10 years ago as the supply of seed in the river was very high the seed price was not very
high, the availability of seeds was so high that the collectors were not able to count the
seeds one by one they took the seeds on a plate and sold them to the farmers directly, so
10 years ago the power of the seed gents was not much as it is now.5years ago the
farmers started full fledged production in this area and as the existence of Hatchery Seed
Center was not prominent the demand of wild seed was high the supply was also high
and the seed collectors earned a lot of money which enabled them to climb the steps of
social hierarchy level. Right now the availability of wild seeds is not good the supply is
high and they have found a new rival now, actually Hatchery Seed Center, the centers
due to their own faults are allowing the seed collectors to continue their business. Though

15
demand is high the wild seed price is medium because of the Hatchery Seed Center
which maintains a constant price throughout the year, when the Hatchery Seed Centers
are closed at September to December they wild seed collectors get the highest price
Rs.700-800 per thousand. So if good quality hatchery seed is provided to the farmers by
any suitable mechanism the wild seed demand will be less ,the seed collectors will shift
from their current occupation(may be greater demand of hatchery seed can create an
alternative livelihood for them and the marine eco system can be saved .
TABLE 10 Shrimp price pattern of tiger shrimp
Name of 10 YEARS AGO 5 YEARS AGO NOW
aqua farmers (RUPEES/KG.) (RUPEES/KG.) (RUPEES/KG.)
M.Mollah 550 150-350 90-250
B.Das 400-600 250-350 150-220
Khokon Das 600 450-500 100-350
K.Das 800 500 390
M.Sardar 200-500
S.Sardar 450 250-400 220-380
J.Sardar
A.Mollah 350-450 350-450 185-400
S.Kamila 750 400-450 300-350
A.Bhowmick 350 500 250-500
The price of p.monodon shows a decreasing trend, after a large number of people started
producing p.monodon the supply was so high that the price automatically dropped as a
consequence of market competition. The second and third reason are the size of the
produce the p.monodon of this region never attains the premium marketable size so the
price is also less, let us have a look on the different sizes of p.monodon and their market
price in Table 11, Table 12 gives a view of the premium marketable size and its rate.
Table 11 Optimum marketable size and price of tiger shrimp
SIZE GRADE WEIGHT MARKET RATE (Rs.)
U20, GRA I 22=1 kg. 390-500
U23-30 II 23=1kg. 290-350
U41 III 41=1kg. 230-290
U51 IV 51=1kg. 110-200

Table 12 Optimum marketable size and price of tiger shrimp

16
Name of aqua farmers Premium marketable size Price(Rs.)
M.Mollah 1=35-40gm. 350
B.Das 2-3=100gm. 320-350
Khokon Das 2=90gm. 350
K.Das 2=90gm. 390
M.Sardar 3=100gm. 350-500
S.Sardar 1=75gm. 500
J.Sardar 1=50gm. 500
A.Mollah 1=35-50gm. 400-650
S.Kamila 2=100gm. 270-300
A.Bhowmick 3=100gm. 400-450

The second reason is low price providing of The Shrimp Processing Industries. When the
aqua farmers sell their products to auctioneers the auctioneers get a profit of Rs. 40-100
per k.g., but they also have to pay a certain of commission to the commission agent or
fish agent who take the fishes from them and sell directly to the export agency. They are
not also getting the whole benefit as their daily collection is decreasing day by day; this is
also their constraint due to which they are able to sell their fishes directly to the export
agencies. The fish agents get some money from the auctioneer because they are acting as
a bridge between the important stakeholders of this industry.

3.11 Market Chain and current export import situation

Now let us have a look at the shrimp-producing pattern of West Bengal. For the year
2005-2006.National status of frozen shrimp exports as compared with marine products
quantity wise-28% of total exports of marine products, value wise- 59% of total exports
of marine products. Where West Bengal’s share of frozen shrimp exports from India is
quantity wise 29.5% of total exports from India, value wise 29% of total exports from
India.

State wise details of shrimp farming for the year 2005-06

80000
17
The graph 2shows that West Bengal is second highest producer of shrimp in India, the
amount of land used for cultivation is almost same but the production of Andhra Pradesh
is far greater than West Bengal that means that the condition of the whole industry is not
well it is not gets desired output. From graph 3 and 4 on the next page the amount of
shrimp exported vis a vis marine products both value wise and amount wise can be
observed, here the surprising thing is that both value wise and production wise other
marine product exports are far behind shrimp. Throughout 7 years production is almost
same in West Bengal.

Froze n shrim p an d o th er m arin e p rod ucts expo rts from Ko lkata po rt

14 0 0 0

12 0 0 0

10 0 0 0

8 00 0
Q u a n tity in M e tric T o n
6 00 0
Quantity of f r oz en s hr imp ex ported (in MT)
Quantity of other marine pr oduc ts ex port( in MT)
4 00 0

2 00 0

0
19 9 5 - 1 9 96 - 1 9 9 7- 1998- 1999- 2 0 0 0- 2001- 2 00 2 -
1996 1 99 7 1998 1999 20 0 0 2 00 1 2 0 02 2003
Ye a r

Graph 3

18
 V a lu e o f fr o z e n sh rim p a n d o th e r m a r in e p ro d u cts e x p o r te d fr o m K o lk a ta p o r t

600

500

400

3 0s0
V a lu e in C ro re V alue o f froz e n s hrim p e x po rt ed (in c rores )

Total va lue o th e r m arin e prod uc ts ex p ort (in c rores )

200

100

0
1995- 1996- 1997- 1998- 1999- 2000- 2001- 2002-
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Yea r

Country wise exports of marine products from Kolkata and Graph

Haldia ports for 2002-03 Quantity ( in MT)
4&5

USA
5% 2%
12% 26% JAPAN
EU
CHINA
14% SOUTH EAST ASIA
MIDDLE EAST
16% 25%
OTHERS

19
 C ountry wise exports of marine products from K olk ata and H aldia
ports for 2002-03 V alue (In C rores)

US A
12% 3% 0%
32% JA PA N
4%
EU
CHIN A
12%
S O UTH EA S T A S IA
MIDDL E EA S T
37%
O THER S

Graph 6

In graph 5 and 6 the export of marine products to different countries both value wise and
amount wise is given, Japan and USA are the major importers.On the next page the
existing shrimp value chain is given and it shows that in every steps middle men are
eating a great part of the total profit generated from this industry.

20
 PLAT
E NO.
WILD SEED COLLECTORS 19
MOD
EL of
HATCHERY shri
mp
value
MIDDLEMAN MIDDLEMAN/TRA chain
DER
SHRIMP NURSERY

CHEMICAL
SHRIMP FARMERS COMPANIES

FEED
MANUFACTURERS

AUCTIONEERS/LOC
AL TRADERS
SHRIMP POND LOCAL
WORKERS RETAI
LERS

MIDDLEMAN/OU
TSIDER TRADER DOMESTIC
MARKET

PRIMARY FISH DEPOT

DEPOT WORKERS ICE
MANUFACTURERS/TRADE
RS

SHRIMP PROCESSING
INDUSTRY
INTERNATIONAL
21
MARKAT
Key stakeholder matrix of this shrimp value chain.
Stake holder Kinds of Responsibilities Who What they What they Impression
stake are they are get and
holder supposed to conclusion
give
Forest Primary Maintaining he GOs Policy, Plan, Achievement No integration
Department forest and Service of target, with FID,
(FOD) natural financial conservation
resources assistance Without
livelihood
Fisheries Primary Overall GOs Expert, Achievement Absence of
Department monitoring and Service, of target, adequate
(FID) development of Assistance financial number of
aquaculture and assistance expert, no
Management funding, no
monitoring
Rural Primary Development GOs Policy, Plan, Achievement No real
development and wellness of Service of target, development
Department villagers financial In this area
assistance
Local NGOs Secondary Local NGOs Support, Money, Till now no
(YDC, development Training, Recognition activity for
SHIS etc) Advice shrimp
resource
mgmt
Wild shrimp Secondary Dealing, Users Support Income, Income, Profit
trader Trading, Money Profit
investment
Wild shrimp Secondary Collecting wild Users Support Income, Destruction of
collector shrimp PL Profit marine
ecosystem
Aqua farmer Primary Shrimp farming Users Good, Income, No

22
 Sustainable skill, Profit, knowledge,
practice Training skill, training
Auctioneer/Fish Secondary Dealing, Users Support Income, High profit
trader (money Trading, Money Profit generation
investor) investment
Shrimp Secondary Processing of Users Support Sales Lower
processing shrimp and volume, payment for
industry (SPI) export to Profit, resources
foreign country PublicImage
Hatchery Secondary Hatching of Users Good Sales Sells bad
shrimp Pl from quality seeds volume, quality seeds,
matured mother Profit, bad image
shrimps Public Image
Hatchery seed Secondary Dealing, Users Support Public High profit
middleman Transportation Image, generation
of seeds Income,
Profit
Hatchery seed Secondary Selling and Users Support Public Sells bad
nursery maintenance of Image, quality seeds,
shrimp PL s Income, bad image
Profit
Middle man Secondary Dealing, Users Support Income, Pays lower
fishery Trading Profit price and get
more profit
MPEDA Secondary Assistance GOs Financial Achievement No assistance,
support, of target, advice
Advice financial
assistance

In this matrix the different beneficiary role and expectation and what they are really
doing is given.

Case Study: Paddy cum shrimp polyculture in tushkhali & manipur

grampanchayat

23
Paddy cum shrimp farming or polyculture is not a new practice. The basic procedure of
paddy cum shrimp culture is cultivating paddy and shrimp in a same area. But after this
basic destination the procedure and practice of paddy cum shrimp culture varies from
place to place.

The practice, which was observed, is paddy cum polyculture in fresh water. A FGD was
done with 6 paddy cum polyculture practitioners. The main focus of this practice is fresh
water shrimp/ prawn macrobrachium rosenburghii.

PERIOD: Mid June to October ending or November beginning.

SOURCE of SEED: In this whole island there is no hatchery seed or Nursing centre. So
they collect wild fresh shrimp seed. Most of the farmers buy the seeds from local seed
agent and put the shrimps in a different pond at the month of May. When these grow up
to 20 gms shrimps are taken to main pond. Other farmer catches 10-20 gms PL from field
in rainy season and put those seeds in the pond.

SEED DENSITY AND PRICE

8000-16000/hec.
1500-2000 per thousand seed.

SHARE OF PADDY LAND AND SHRIMP LAND:

24
RATIO PADDY (hectare) FISH (hectare)
4:3 0.274 0.2055
3:1 0.822 0.274
7:1 0.23975 0.03425
13:1 0.1644 0.025
14:1 0.959 0.0685

AQUATIC SPECIES CULTIVATED IN THE PRACTICE:

Rui,Katla, Mrigal, Puti, Bata, Tilapia, Tangra, Silvercarp, Shol, Koi, Magur, Singi,
Bhangah, Parsey, Bele, Lata, Mourala, Golda, Bagda, Bhetki.

PADDY SPECIES CULTIVATED IN THIS PRACTICE:

Nanasri, Sabita, Hogla, Palbery.

DIFFERENT CHARACTERISTICS OF THE POND

Pond depth: 5-7 ft.
Paddy land depth from pond bank: 2-2-5 ft.
Source of water: Rainwater, Canal water
Water gate: One (Inlet & out let)

CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS GIVEN IN THE POND & FIELD

POND: 16 kg/ha. Mahua Oil cake, 40 kg/ha. Lime, Mustard Oil cake if necessary.

PADDY FIELD: NONASRI Urea 40 kg/ha, POLBERI Do not need any fertilizer only
organic fertilizer KHARIF PRACTICE

PRODUCTION:

Farmer Paddy Shrimp Other

25
Farmer-1 3840 kg/hec. 80 kg/hec. 240 kg/hec.
Farmer-2 3360 kg/hec. 320kg/hec. 8200 kg/hec.
Farmer-3 2400 kg/hec. 80 kg/hec. 480 kg/hec.
Farmer-4 3360 kg/hec. 1209 kg/hec. 560 kg/hec.
Farmer-5 2880 kg/hec. 80 kg/hec. 400 kg/hec.

From the total production of this practice they use the paddy mainly for their
consumption purpose so they do not have to buy food grain. The fishes they get from this
practice is used for both consumption and selling. They sell the fishes at near by
Dhamakhali Nazat. Barasat fish market.

FINANCE: The farmers invest their own money; do not prefer borrowing from money
lender. There are groups of farmers 10 members each who deposit Rs.20 per month in a
savings account and on the basis of that money they take loan.

MECHANISM: At first the farmers put the seeds surrounded by paddy field. After
seeding farmers sow the paddy in the field at monsoon. At first pond water is taken from
canal by pumping. Once they have pumped the water there is no need of water intake.
Rain water is the source of water afterwards. During Rainy season the fish and Paddy
both are grown up and the whole land is now full of water, so fishes come out of the little
pond and the whole area serves as their bigger pond. After Rainy season the field is dry
and fishes go back to their old residence.

Paddy cum shrimp practice

26
COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS

Fixed Cost: Group-I Group-II

Land usage: - Rs.48,000 Rs.48,000

Tax:- Rs.120 Rs.120 ___

Total Rs.48120/- Rs.48120/-

VARIABLE COST (Per Hectare)

Item Group-I Group-II
Seed Cost

Shrimp Rs. 8000.00 Rs.12000.00

Other Fish Rs. 9600.00 Rs.12000.00

Paddy Rs. 1200.00 Rs. 480.00

Fertilizer &

Fish Rs. 280.00 Rs. 1600.00

Lime

Paddy Rs. 1200.00

Labour Cost Rs. 4000.00

Miscellaneous Rs. 1600.00 Rs. 1000.00
Marketing Rs. 1000.00 Rs. 1500.00
Total Rs.26880.00 Rs.27580.00

REVENUE
Group-I Group-II

Paddy Rs.16600.00 Rs.40320.00

Shrimp Rs.24000.00 Rs.36000.00
Other Fish Rs.32000.00 Rs.40000.00

27
________________________________________________
Total Rs.72600.00 Rs.116320.00

Profit & Loss A/C.

Group-II: Profit Rs. 40,620/- per hectare

Group-I: Loss Rs. 2400/- per hectare

At season ending the farmers simply reap the paddy first and then easily vacate the little
pond which is full fishes now.

So the main benefits of this practice are:

a. Less risk as in case of rare incident only they will lose their investment in two
areas.

b. Disease rate is very less. This is because of large area, low seed density and no
intake of water from river.

c. Natural feed is available in the pond because of paddy field.

d. Food security is more in this practice.

e. Cost benefit is quite good as the land is their own land so they do not have to
pay the land usage cost.

METHODOLOGY
Research design: Exploratory research.

28
Population: The 700 aqua farmers and 250 seed collectors (approx) of Bermajur II GP,
Almost 100 hatchery seed centers/nurseries from where the aqua farmers of study area
buy seeds.

Rationale behind sampling plan: The sample units were chosen in accordance with the
requirement of the project. Convenience sampling has been done to obtain a clear picture
in a limited time of the current scenario of shrimp farming from Bermajur II GP, which
falls within Sundarbans Region.
Sampling plan
Sample size: 1) Ten aqua farmers,2) Twenty seed collectors,3) Ten hatchery seed nursing
centers Sampling design: Convenience sampling
Data collection: I) Primary data: Questionnaires
II) Secondary data: Government departments and organizations, Research
bodies, Educational institutes, Libraries & NGOs of West Bengal,
Departmental documents, Photographs and Maps
Research Tools used Semi Structured Interview, Focus Group Discussion, Observation
Method, Unstructured interview

FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS

5.0 Findings
a From the past two years the farmers were unable to get profit or sufficient profit
from this practice so they have to depend a lot on their secondary occupation.

29
b The causes behind failure of their practice are
i) Disease: Disease occur in the ponds throughout the year and fishes become
dead within 2-14 days.
ii) Low quality of hatchery seeds yields in harvest failure.
iii) No financial support or advice for betterment of his or her practice from any
government or non-government agency as a result a strong buy back arrangement
exists between aqua farmer and auctioneer, seed collector and seed middleman,
auctioneer and shrimp marketer middleman.
All of these can be described as socio economical impact of this industry.

c The wild seed availability is decreasing from the past five years and the price is
also decreasing, it is because of more and more hatchery seed centers and their
constant rate maintaining capability throughout the year while the price of wild
seed is variable throughout the year.

d The causes of the current perception about hatchery seeds are:

1. Viral Disease in the shrimp pond

2. The quality of the seeds which others states provide in their own
practice is not same with supplied seeds
3. Due to greater demand of hatchery seed the hatcheries hatch seeds
from immature Mother/Queen Penaeus monodon .
4. The whole business is dependent upon agents

e The two most profitable business role of this market chain are seed agents (both
wild and hatchery), the fish agents and the hatcheries of Andhra Pradesh,
Tamilnadu, Orissa who got actual benefit of the shrimp farming in Sunderbans
area i.e. the benefit of the transformation of people from agriculture to
aquaculture.

30
Suggestions
a As the farmers do not have sound knowledge about the procedures of giving
different inputs in the pond nor they have knowledge of different disease and their
possible remedies constant guidance and monitoring is the most important and
viable way by which they can understand their faults and can take necessary
actions to improve their practice when needed.
b Right now the GFC have a complete committee structure and the other farmers in
different areas also have collective mechanism between them though they do not
get funding. The farmers can open a savings bank account in the name of their
committee where they will deposit a certain amount of money per month. On the
basis of their deposit they can get loan from the bank. The seed collectors also
avail this benefit as they also have little amount of distributed land where they
practice aquaculture.
c The usage of wild seed can be decreased when the hatchery seeds will give good
yield; the Fishery department of Government of West Bengal has to regulate the
supply and quality of hatchery seed which comes from other states. The whole
industry will be affected if the hatchery seed quality remains same.
d The hatchery seed centers should form an alliance between them which will select
members from them who will go to original hatchery and choose the best seed on
behalf of the hatchery seed centers. By following this way they will get cost
benefit and quality benefit as well.

e The local ngo have to contact with a reputed Shrimp Hatchery from where the
farmers will take the seeds and form seed banks in their village with the help of
WWF-India and their local partner ngo.

f The fishermen committees have better marketing option for their produce .If the
committee members directly contact with the shrimp export industries of Kolkata
to sell their products directly to them they get better profit. For this they have to
collect all of their produce everyday, which they will directly supply, to Kolkata. .

31
 The overall picture of the stakeholders of this industry after suggestion
implementation will be quite like the flowchart given on the next page

HATCHERY
PLAT
E
22 TESTING AND
:SUG GOVERNMENT
REGULATIONS
GEST
ED
MOD SEED BANK SHRIMP NURSERY
EL

32
 CHEMICAL
SHRIMP FARMERS COMPANIES
SHRIMP POND TESTING AND
GOVERNMENT
WORKERS REGULATIONS
FEED
MANUFACTURERS

SHRIMP FARMER LOCAL

CO-OPERATIVE RETAI
LERS

DOMESTIC
MARKET

PRIMARY FISH DEPOT

DEPOT WORKERS ICE
MANUFACTURERS/TRADE
RS

SHRIMP PROCESSING
INDUSTRY

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. www.wikipedia.com INTERNATIONAL
MARKAT
2. www.socialresearch.net
3. Aquaculture Asia Magazine-Network of Aquacultures In Asia PacificTechnology

33
4. Series No. 1 An Improved Traditional Shrimp Culture Technique for Increasing
Pond Yield by P. Kungvankij1, L. B. Tiro, Jr, B. J. Pudadera, Jr2, I.O. Potestas
and T. E. Chua Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia (NACA) Regional Lead
Centre in the Philippines (RLCP)

5. Local Contributions to Operationalising the UNFCCC, CBD and UNCCD Case

study: Reducing Vulnerability to Climate Change in the Southwest Coastal
Region of Bangladesh

6. Muhammad Abdur Rouf and Kathe R. Jensen ,Coastal Fisheries Management and
Community Livelihood(Integrated Tropical Coastal Zone Management,School of
Environment, Resources and Development-ITCZM)

7. Land Use Zoning for Integrated Coastal Zone ManagementMd. Shahadat Hossain
and C. Kwei Lin(Integrated Tropical Coastal Zone Management,School of
Environment, Resources and Development-ITCZM)

8. Environmental classification of mangrove wetlands of India ,V. Selvam

9. International Principles for Responsible Shrimp Farming6 2006 FAO, NACA,

UNEP, WB, WWF

10. Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific - Sustainable

AquacultureFertilization, soil and water quality management in small-scale
ponds Inland aquaculture By S. Adhikari, Central Institute of Freshwater
Aquaculture, Kausalyaganga, Bhubaneswar

34
11. Policy Working Paper: Dynamic Agribusiness-focused Aquaculture for Poverty
Reduction and Economic Growth in Bangladesh M. Karim, M. Ahmed, R.K.
Talukder,M.A. Taslim, H. Z. Rahman March 2006

12. WWF Aquaculture Resource Materials, Aquaculture and Biodiversity Dr. Jason
W. Clay VP, Conservation Innovation, WWF-US and others

13. Wild shrimp seed collection of Penaeus monodonin Godavari estuary, Andhra
Pradesh, India, Magnus Petersson Arbetsgruppen för Tropisk Ekologi ,Minor
Field Study 74,Committee of Tropical Ecology Uppsala University, Sweden

14. A PRO-POOR ANALYSIS OF THE SHRIMP SECTOR IN BANGLADESH, by

Sarah Gammage, Kenneth Swanberg, Mubina Khandkar, Md. Zahidul Hassan,
Md. Zobair, and Abureza M. Muzareba,USAID-Bangladesh

15. Shrimp aquaculture State of the art Report 1Patrik Rönnbäck Swedish EIA Centre
Swedish University of Agricultural sciences, SLU Uppsala Sweden

16. Shrimp News International

17. WWF Position Statement on Shrimp Aquaculture, December 1998

18. Marketing Research,Westfall & Boyd

19. District Statistical Hand Book by Bureau of Applied Economics And

Statistics,Govt. of West Bengal, December, 1996

20. Marine Products Export Development Agency(MPEDA)

35
21. Marshall and Rossman, Designing Qualitative Research, 3rd Ed. London: Sage
Publications, 1999, p. 115)

22. Participatory Rural Development around Fisheries in Sandeshkhali II SHGs under

Barefoot Leadership of an Uncrowned Mukut, Prof. Samar K. Datta Centre for
Management in Agriculture Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad,July
2005

23. Aquatic plants for waste water treatment, Natural Science at the edge magazine,
article written by B.C.Wolverton.

24. Project Oceanography Fall 2000, Neighborhood Water quality, Lesson 3.

Solutions to Pollution, source http://aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu

36