Increasing Efficienty of Pond Fish Production in Rural Bangladesh

Abstract

Fish is the main animal source of protein for the people of Bangladesh. As a principal source of protein, the per capita production of fish is declining. The present study highlights the development of pond fish production through grassroots level organization. The study was conducted in rural areas of Bangladesh. Eight villages were selected for this study of which four were from a rural development project area, the comprehensive Village Development Program (CVDP) and the rest were from non intervened area. It was revealed that level of education, size of land holding, family income etc. were important socio-economic factors affecting the utilization of pond fish farming. The findings of the study also indicated that, ownership pattern of pond, size of pond, location of ponds had a significant impact on pond fish production in the study area. The results of the study clearly indicated that the farmers of CVDP area had used more modern inputs like, manure, fertilizer, and feed and also better management practices than the non-CVDP area. The higher number of ponds (57%) in CVDP area was under intensive and semi-intensive cultivation, which gave them higher production (2653kg/ha/yr). On the other hand the majority of the ponds (72%) in non-CVDP area were under extensive cultivation (1100kg/ha/yr). Finally it might be concluded that, there was a sharp difference in the production practices of pond fish culture between CVDP and non-CVDP area. The grassroots level village organization had played a significant role in the process of technology transfer from the Thana level to the village level in the project area.