Social, economic and production characteristics of freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man, 1879) culture in West Bengal, India

Abstract

Farming of giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii, popularly known as ‘scampi,’ has recently been expanding in India. The present study was conducted using questionnaire survey, Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), key informant interviews, and focus group discussion and to assess the present state of production of giant river prawn (M. rosenbergii) in South 24 Parganas District of West Bengal, India. The socio-economic and technical survey on 80 prawn farmers was conducted during May, 2014–April, 2015. Prawn culture in ponds is slowly departing from the traditional endogenously managed system to a more extensive and commercial venture in the study areas. However, use of technology and scientific knowledge has not been adopted widely. In spite of operating within a semi-traditional system, this enterprise has shown moderate productivity and higher income in the study areas. Major constraints in the large-scale culture of prawn were adequate supply of seed at required quantities across locations, disease management, and social evils such as theft and poisoning of pond. Yield of prawn culture was affected by pond condition, family labor engagement in prawn culture, and resource endowment of the farm family. Linkage with formal financial institutions, subsidized input support from fishery department and investment in human resource development of farmers might be some point of intervention to boost prawn culture in the coastal zone of West Bengal, India.