Economic evaluation of different aquaculture systems in coastal waters of Goa, Southwest Coast of India.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to carry out the economic evaluation of different aquaculture systems in coastal waters of Goa. Break-even analysis was used to compute the economic viability of different culture systems. A survey was also conducted to study the perception of farmers on different aquaculture technologies introduced in coastal waters. Among the four aquaculture systems studied, the semi-enclosed multi-species culture system was the most productive. The highest benefit-cost ratio and rate of return and shortest payback period were observed for the semi-enclosed water system with multi-species culture. Thus, the multi-species culture was found more economically viable compared to the single-species system under similar environmental conditions. Moreover, for the semi-enclosed system, the productivity and survival of species were comparatively higher due to the control of water flow through sluice gates. Goa is rich in semi-enclosed water bodies, which have a history of being used for shrimp farming, but these systems can be utilized for multi-species aquaculture. Perception of farmers on the dissemination of culture techniques revealed that adequate technical support increases their confidence level. This paper posits that there is sufficient scope and feasibility for developing multi-species aquaculture practices inunutilised semi-enclosed coastal areas of Goa by giving adequate technical support to the farmers.