Integrated Prawn-Agriculture Gher Farming System in Bagerhat, Bangladesh

Abstract

Freshwater prawn farming has become an important component in the livelihood of marginal farmers in the freshwater interface of Southwestern coastal Bangladesh. This prawn farming has been integrated with rice and/or vegetable either simultaneously or sequentially. In an attempt to assess the status of integrated prawn-agriculture gher farming in the area, 20 farms at Fakirhat Thana, Bagerhat were surveyed during August-October, 2005. Farmers were interviewed with questionnaire on the production and economics of such integrated farms. Stocking of prawn PL was done at the densities 0.5 to 2.0 PL m-2 during February-March in simultaneous culture and at the densities 3.0 to 7.0 PL m-2 during June-July in sequential system. This integrated prawn farming has beneficial impact on the income of the farmers. Net profit was calculated to be Tk 20,395 ha-1 from a cycle (5-6 months) of simultaneous culture and Tk 35,457 ha-1 from sequential system, and Tk 127,000 ha-1 from rice + prawn + vegetable farming.

Socio–economic aspects of the integrated gher farming system of Dhopakhali union at Kachua upazila in Bagerhat district, Bangladesh

“…Culture of vegetables on gher dikes, requires low investment but gets good profits. In the present study, the average cost of vegetables and fruits cultivation was 65,015.67 BDT/ha and the average income was 2,13,053.32 BDT/ha with a cost-benefit ratio of 1.0:3.3, which were similar to the findings of Shah et al (2008), who reported that the average cost of vegetables was 260 BDT/100 decimal and the average income was 900 BDT/100 decimal, where cost-benefit ratio of vegetables was 1.0:3.5 in the integrated prawn-agriculture gher farming in Bagerhat district. In present study, the average cost of only integrated gher farming system (shrimp + prawn + white fish + paddy + vegetables and fruits) without paddy was 2,65,436.96 BDT/ha (Table 10) with an average annual income of 5,29,805.77 BDT/ha (Table 11).…”

“…In present study, the average cost of only integrated gher farming system (shrimp + prawn + white fish + paddy + vegetables and fruits) without paddy was 2,65,436.96 BDT/ha (Table 10) with an average annual income of 5,29,805.77 BDT/ha (Table 11). Net return and cost-benefit ratio from the only integrated gher farming system without paddy (shrimp + prawn + white fish + vegetables and fruits) was 2,64,368.81 BDT/ha and 1.0:2.0 (Table 12) at Kachua upazila in Bagerhat district, which was nearly similar to the findings of Shah et al (2008), who found that the average cost and income of only integrated gher farming system (prawn + white fish + vegetables and fruits) without paddy was 44,180 BDT/100 decimal and 1,04,850 BDT/100 decimal, respectively where the cost-benefit ratio was obtained to be 1.0:2.4 at Fakirhat upazila in Bagerhat district.…”