Preface Shrimp farming has a long tradition in India that began with the tidal stocking of shrimp in paddy fields and lagoons and holding them until the harvest. More intensive forms of shrimp farming developed rapidly during the 1990’s. As was the case in many other nations in Asia in India, the development of shrimp farming took place without planning and regulation. This resulted in a variety of environmental problems and social conflicts. Although India has benefited from rising foreign exchange earnings, the mixed experience of coastal communities with shrimp farming has prompted a heated debate over the role of shrimp farming in the coastal ecosystem. Questions have been raised on its sustainability in the long run, and some people also accused that this farming has disturbed the social harmony and has raised the inequality level in the rural areas. This book on ‘Economics of Shrimp Farming’ is organized in eight chapters. The chapters deal with the issues related to the global shrimp production and shrimp production in India; review of the existing studies on shrimp farming and its impact on the economy, society and environment; socio-economic profile of the shrimp farmers; issues related to the shrimp farm management and marketing of shrimp; socio-economic impact of shrimp farming and the environmental problems due to it. A critical analysis of the existing policies related to shrimp farming has been made with policy recommendations to make it more environment friendly. The shrimp farming is more remunerative as compared to paddy farming but highly risky and involves more investment. It also provides additional employment to the rural people in the agriculturally lean season. The introduction of commercial shrimp farming has changed the occupational pattern of the rural people. The scope of earning a huge amount of money within a short span of time attracts not only large and medium farmers but also small and marginal farmers. But due to various reasons, most of the farmers are unable to generate the desired amount of income and employment from shrimp farming. The process of shrimp farming is purely based on a scientific package which is not so easy to perform by rural people with little education and low technical knowledge without proper guidance and training. The shrimp farmers feel the requirement of technical people, particularly during pond preparation, molting, disease, application of additives, etc. Shrimp farming is very expensive, and it is not possible for every farmer to bear the entire cost of production. The book highlights how the agents of feed and medicine companies and big export houses visit small farmers and provide finance to them and encourage them to go for shrimp farming; under what conditions they provide them with feed, seed, medicines and other additives. The book analyses the return to labour and return per rupee of investment from shrimp farming and the impact of shrimp farming on the environment.

Shrimp culture, a subset of aquaculture is slowly emerging as one of the major and fastest-growing food production sectors in the world. Shrimp that were once caught from the wild are now being cultured using modern aquaculture methods. Thanks to international institutions such as the World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) etc., who have the encouraged the production of shrimp that fetch huge returns on investment within a short period. Third world countries are also impressed by the potential of this sector to provide food security and to earn huge foreign exchange to redress their debt burdens. Commercial shrimp farming developed in India on account of the government’s policy to promote shrimp culture because of its potential to utilise the vast saline tracts along the coastline, provide employment opportunities to coastal rural population and to earn valuable foreign exchange. After the liberalisation of the Indian economy in 1991, development of shrimp culture gained greater momentum. Individual entrepreneurs were also encouraged to take up shrimp farming with both financial and technical support. The market for shrimp is growing by leaps and bounds as they provide a cheap source of protein at only a little above half the cost of producing animal protein. The unique attraction of shrimp being a ‘high-value commodity’ has led to revolutionise its production, currently known as the ‘Blue Revolution’. The revolution has expanded its wings to the coastal areas of Odisha and is becoming one of the most sought out livelihood. The exponential increase in income leading to a dramatic change in the standard of living has lured the people to opt for shrimp culture. In almost all the coastal districts of the state (Odisha), shrimp culture is prominent now.

In this chapter, an attempt has been made to review some of the earlier studies related to shrimp farming and its socio-economic and environmental impacts. The related pieces of literature are classified into the following five categories. Shrimp Pond Management Economic Impact of Shrimp Farming Social Impact of Shrimp Farming Impact of Shrimp Farming on Environment Acts and Policies Relating to Shrimp Farming

This chapter is framed with different factors relating to socio-economic profile of shrimp farmers in Dhamara coastal zone. Shrimp farming offers significant employment opportunities, which may help alleviate the poverty of the local coastal population in many areas, if it is properly managed. The published literature on that topic shows large discrepancies, and much of the available data is of anecdotal nature. Estimates of the labor-intensiveness of shrimp farms range from about three times less to three times more] than when the same area was used for rice paddies, with much regional variation and depending on the type of farms surveyed. In general, intensive shrimp farming requires more labour per unit area than extensive farming. Extensive farms cover much more land area and are often but not always located in areas where no agricultural land uses are possible. Supporting industries such as feed production or storage, handling, and trade companies should also not be neglected, even if not all of them are exclusive to shrimp farming. Typically, workers on a shrimp farm can get better wages than with other employments. A global estimate from one study is that a shrimp farm worker can earn 1.5-3 times as much as in other jobs; a study from India arrived at a salary increase of about 1.6, and a report from Mexico states that the lowest paid job at shrimp farms was paid in 1996 at 1.22 times the average worker salary in the country.

Marine shrimp farming is a century-old practice. Until a decade ago, this commodity was generally considered a secondary crop in traditional fish farming practices. Shrimp fry trapped in salt beds, coastal paddy fields, or brackish water fishponds are allowed to grow to marketable size and harvested as a secondary crop. However, in recent years when higher income are derived from the harvest of shrimp than the principal crop, many farmers have converted their rice fields, salt beds and fishponds into shrimp farms. In the traditional farming system, the ponds are stocked with fry either collected from the wild or concentrated through tidal water entering the ponds. Shrimp production is inconsistent and varies from year to year due to the dependence on seasonal supply of fry from the wild. Pond yield is also low (100–300 kg/ha/ year) because of inefficient control of predators and competitors, full dependence on natural food and inadequate pond depth. Some improvements of the traditional farming methods have been made in the past years. The stocking density of shrimp ponds can be increased through the concentration of fry by pumping more tidal water into the pond. Pond depth is increased to minimize fluctuations of environmental parameters. As a result, pond yield has correspondingly increased. However, the expansion of the shrimp farming industry is still restricted due to the inconsistency in fry supply.

Introduction This chapter has analysed the impact of shrimp farming on the farmer households. Income and employment generation being two important aspects, impact of shrimp culture on these two are discussed in this chapter. The income generated through shrimp culture is compared with the income from paddy cultivation. Returns to scale and returns to labour from shrimp culture are discussed to know whether shrimp culture is a preferred activity compared to paddy cultivation or not. Besides, the impact of shrimp farming on asset creation, expenditure pattern and savings behaviour of the sample households has been discussed in this chapter.

The livelihood of millions of people depends on shrimp farming around the world, especially in tropical and sub-tropical developing countries. On the other hand, failure to protect the ecosystem and environment from degradation due to shrimp farming is a major concern. The long-term sustainability of this industry depends on its ability to be economically efficient, and at the same time to minimize environmental effects. Therefore, it is important to consider both the economic outcomes and various environmental effects in achieving a more sustainable industry. From this viewpoint, an attempt has been made to explore the key environmental aspects of shrimp farming in the world in general, and in Dhamara area in particular. Impacts of shrimp farming are mainly in four areas, namely, land resources, water resources, forest resources and fishery resources.

The impetus for the development of aquaculture extends beyond food production. Aquaculture can help to diversify rural employment opportunities, reduce trade deficits, reduce pressure on living marine resources and rebuild depleted wild stocks (FAO, 2000b). The rapid development of coastal aquaculture, however, is now an area of critical international concern owing to the immense role it plays in transforming coastal landscapes and livelihoods. With the advent of new technology and rising global demand for fish and fish products, the basic character of aquaculture in coastal communities is changing dramatically. Traditional, low production forms of aqua-culture catering to local households are being supplanted by modern, resource intensive high production systems that cater to international markets. This restructuring has generated widespread concern over the contribution of aquaculture to the degradation of coastal ecosystems and the social and economic costs that are being passed on to the rural poor leading to growing inequality (Lakshmi and Rajagopalan, 2000). There is large-scale conversion of wetlands including mangroves for other uses despite their valuable functioning, products and attributes. Normal market forces always favour the conversion of mangroves (and other wetlands) to other uses and ; many alternative uses of natural mangroves in tropical and sub-tropical coastal areas have produced disappointing economic results due to low and declining productivity (eg. abandoned shrimp ponds due to unscientific shrimp farming in formerly mangrove areas) (Dixon and Lal, 1997). The large-scale destruction of mangroves for shrimp ponds has adversely affected the productivity of nearby fisheries and consequently the economic conditions of traditional fishermen households. The conversion of mangrove forest into shrimp ponds in the coastal areas in Asia including India is nothing but redistribution of income from poor fishermen to rich investors, mostly non-fishermen marine product industrialists and merchants. (Maler, 1998). The destruction of mangrove forests in India, China, Thailand and other Asian countries is synonymous with the destruction of fishing grounds of the traditional fishermen leading to their occupational displacement.

Shrimp culture is slowly emerging as one of the major and fastest growing food production sector in the world. High demand in the international market encouraged many developing countries to grow shrimp in their coastal areas. Many countries including India earn sizable foreign exchanges by exporting both shrimp and frozen shrimp. International institutions like the World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) etc. have also encouraged production of shrimp that fetch huge returns on investment within a short period of time. Indigent coastal people in India have been farming fish for hundreds of years. The warm climate, accessibility to coast, saline water and relatively low wage rate provides a comparative advantage for shrimp cultivation. Commercial shrimp farming developed in India on account of the government’s policy to promote shrimp culture in view of its potential to utilise the vast saline tracts along the coastline and to provide employment opportunities to coastal rural population. After the liberalization, development of shrimp culture gained greater momentum in the country. Individual entrepreneurs were also encouraged to take up shrimp farming with both financial and technical support from the government. ‘Shrimp’ which is an aquatic organism inhabiting the sea, estuaries and backwaters remained the backbone of Indian marine products exports. Shrimp is a protein-rich food with universal taste. Shrimp farming is a short duration activity and therefore, provides quick return on investment. It also provides gainful employment opportunities to the rural poor in the remote coastal areas. The value of shrimp exported in 2011-12 from India was estimated at about Rs. 8175.26 crores (US$ 1741.20 million). According to an estimate made by MPEDA, one hectare of shrimp culture operation can provide direct employment to atleast two persons and can also generate indirect employment to the extent of 1100 man-days. Shrimp culture has a long tradition in India that began with the tidal stocking of shrimp in paddy fields and lagoons and holding them until harvest. More intensive forms of shrimp farming developed rapidly during the 1990’s. As was the case in many other nations in Asia, the development of shrimp farming in India took place without planning and regulation. This resulted in a variety of environmental problems and social conflicts. Although India has benefited from rising foreign exchange earnings, the conflict of coastal communities with shrimp farming has prompted a heated debate over the relevance of aquaculture in coastal ecosystem. Questions have been raised on its sustainability in the long run and some people also accused that this culture has disturbed the social harmony and has raised the inequality level in the rural areas.

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