M. Nazrul Islam
Professor, Department of Zoology, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh
Title: Economic Returns of Existing Various Shrimp Farming Practice in Southwest Region of Bangladesh
Biography
Biography: M. Nazrul Islam
Abstract
Shrimp is one of the leading exportable seafood products from where Bangladesh is earning about UD$ 500 million yearly contributing 3.78% to the GDP. Shrimp farmers follow the traditional and extensive farming practices and the average production is 275 kg/ha which is the lowest compared to other shrimp producing countries around the world this production rate is the lowest. Reasons of this low production are lack of better technology, dearth of quality seed and feed, and effect of shrimp disease. Small-scale organic shrimp farming practice introduced recently, has shown better production and profitability in four coastal sub districts (Upazila) of Sathkira district in the southwest part of the country. Three different farming practices were studied: (i) organic (ii) traditional and (iii) extensive or control farming. Farmers who are used to practice these farming systems were interviewed to collect different data. The data show that organic farmers are producing average 451 kg/ha which is 10.64% higher than the traditional, and 20.84% higher than extensive or control farming systems. Cost benefit analysis showed that organic farming is more profitable compared to other practices because of low input cost and premium price received for organic shrimp. Percentage of gross sale of organic cultured shrimp is 10% higher than traditional and 19.37% higher than control or extensive shrimp farming.