Environmental costs of shrimp culture in the rice‐growing regions of the Mekong Delta

Abstract

In the coastal areas of the Mekong Delta, many farmers have adopted the practice of shrimp farming in the dry season, when severe saline intrusion makes it impossible to grow rice. These extensive and semi‐intensive culture methods include integrated rice‐shrimp and shrimp monoculture systems. The adoption of shrimp farming has raised incomes for many farmers in the region, but a number of environmental issues are emerging. These are the potential salinization of rice‐shrimp fields and neighbouring rice monoculture fields, and the build‐up of sediment in rice‐shrimp fields. In this paper, the costs associated with salinization and sedimentation are quantified using farm survey data, and the net private and social benefits of alternative farming systems are compared. The divergence between the private and social values implies a need for environmental policy, and some suggestions for policy are discussed.