The Prospects and Problems of Rural Household Based Aquaculture: A Study of Selected Fish Farming Households in Kerala, India

Abstract

Rural household-based micro fish farming serves a twin purpose: augmenting the marketable supply of fish products and helping to alleviate rural poverty. This study made an attempt to dwell on the performance of some of the selected fish farming households in Kerala, India. Responses from 124 fish farmers were collected from Ernakulam, Kollam, and Alappuzha Districts. The study revealed that biofloc fish farming is a female dominant one, while pond fish farming is a male dominant one. The mean age of fish farmers in the category of biofloc fish farming turns out to be 37 years; whereas in the case of cage and pond fish farming, it is 44 years. Excess rain causes many hardships to the farmers. In the case of cage fish farmers, only 7 percent do not seek any credit. Among those who source credit from money lenders, pond fish farmers stand out with 60 percent. Among the fish farmers, 24.19 percent opine that they receive a profit set above the normal profit. 39 percent consider labor cost as the most volatile. Being more labor-intensive and eco-system-based, pond fishing can accelerate both fish production and livelihood avenues for poor and disadvantaged rural households.