Economics of Value Addition in Fish in Manipur State of India: Empirical Analysis

Abstract

Fishery is a significant sector of the Indian economy from the point of view of food supplies, foreign exchange and also for its potential to generate employment. The North Eastern (NE) region of India has been recognized as a global hot spot of fresh water bodies. The annual growth rate of fish production in NE India registered a positive growth over the years indicating a healthy trend. The fish production of Manipur is mostly contributed by the Loktak Lake which is the largest freshwater lake in NE India. Population of Manipur consumes fish in various forms which includes fermented, sun dried, smoked, pickles, freshly cooked. Keeping in view present research paper in an overview to assess the value addition at each stage of marketing of fish of Loktak Lake. A sample of 60 numbers of fishermen and 10 numbers of different intermediaries were taken into consideration for this research. A standard analytical technique has been employed to analyse the data to draw in inferences from the results. The findings of the paper demonstrated that the local trader -cum- retailer earned a huge profit which was higher than the profit earned by the fishermen. Therefore, the study recommends encouraging the maximum involvement of fishermen in value addition process at their level to harvest the higher profits. The state fish department must lead to encourage the fishermen with latest tools and techniques for value addition.