Impact of Adoption of Pen Culture Technology on Well-being of Fishers of Haribhanga Wetland in Assam

Abstract

Assam is endowed with copious aquatic wealth in the form of beels, swamps, ponds and rivers. The floodplain wetlands (beels), extending over one lakh hectare, constitute the most important fishery resource and is most suitable for culture based fishery development. Haribhanga Beel is located in Nagaon district having water area of 125 ha. Earning of sixty four fisher families depends on fishing in this beel. The data was collected using structured questionnaire and focused group discussion with the fisher. An impact pathway was developed for studying the impact of technology intervention on the production and productivity of floodplain wetland and the consequent improvement on the well-being of the fishers. After the adoption of pen culture technology, annual fish production of the wetland was increased significantly from 37000 kg in 2002-03 to 131250kg in 2006-07. The productivity was also increased from 296 kg ha-1 yr-1 in 2002-03 to 1050 kg ha-1 yr-1. Apart from the increase in the income of lessee, there was substantial increase in the income of other fishers. The benefit cost ratio of fisheries in Haribhanga beel was 3.23. The direct impact of adoption of CIFRI technology has been seen in increase in the fish production and productivity of the floodplain wetlands of Assam, which directly helped in raising the income of the fisher household and livelihood security. The indirect impact of adoption of this technology can be seen in the increase of total fish productivity from the wetlands and increase in the per capita fish availability in the state. This impact study also provided the information on the technology profitability and its effect on household income.