Evaluation of economic viability and sensitivity analysis of Indian major carp culture

Abstract

Indian major carps viz., catla Catla catla (Hamilton); rohu Labeo rohita (Hamilton) and mrigal Cirrhinus mrigala (Hamilton) were cultured with a stocking density of 50000 fingerlings ha-1 for a period of 300 days with all possible best management practices. Sensitivity of different fixed and operating cost variables, production and sale price involved in the experiment were analysed. All the above costs varied by ±10%, ±20% and ±30% respectively and the net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) were determined. Among all the inputs, feed cost was found to be the most sensitive. NPV and IRR values ranged from 7 to 20% and 5 to 15% respectively with varied feed cost ranging from 10 to 30%. Increases either in the production or in the sale price by 10, 20 and 30%, led to increase in the NPV by around 22, 43 and 65% and IRR by around 17, 33 and 49% respectively from their original values. Present study suggests that proper feeding and marketing strategy should be emphasised to get maximum economic benefit from Indian major carp culture.