Practice and Economics of Freshwater Prawn Farming in Seasonally Saline Rice Field in Bangladesh.

Abstract

Abstract - This paper evaluates the production pattern and economics of freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) farming in seasonally saline rice fields in Bangladesh. The reconnaissance survey was conducted on 30 rice-prawn ghers (RPG) in south-west region of Bangladesh. The farmers were found to use their rice fields for farming prawn and rice (aman) concurrently from April/May to January, and for only rice (boro) from January to April. In the RPG farming system, farmers use rain water during wet season, and underground water with salinity of 1-5 ‰ during dry season. The average production of prawn, aman, and boro was recorded as 439.79±90.46, 3155.48±397.33, 4778.54±389.37 kg/ha/yr, respectively. The economic analysis show potentially good return, and the net return and benefit-cost ratio were US$ 1078.35 and 1.25, respectively. The payback period was determined as 9.37 years. The study implies that the culture of prawn in seasonally saline paddy field is economically viable.