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Contractual Pisciculture in South West Punjab: Prospects and Constraints
Romana Gurjinder Singh*, Dhillon Gurmeet Singh, Dhaliwal Navneet Kaur
Punjab Agricultural University, Regional Research Station and Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Bathinda-151 001, India
*Corresponding author email: romanabti@gmail.com
Online published on 13 December, 2017.
Abstract
The employment of the farm labour forced out by changing scenario of agriculture is the prior need of the agriculture sector in the state. Fish farming being an allied occupation can provide part-time as well as full-time employment to the unemployed youth, farmers, fishermen and landless agricultural labourers. The present study was therefore exclusively designed in South West Punjab being bitter water zone with the objectives to know the economics, marketing status and problem of contractual fish farming in village ponds. The weighted average value worth 20088 per acre was taken as the mean contract value of an acre pond in the present investigation. On an average, the total cost of rearing fish in the local ponds came out to be44639 per acre if sold from the pond site and52430 per acre for approaching Ludhiana market. With the average productivity of 10.25 quintal fish per acre, the net returns were47611 and96195 per acre if sold locally as well as in the Ludhiana market, respectively. The fish rearing invillage ponds having regular water availability, access to animals and water drainage facility can offer better family income coupled with employment opportunity for the rural youth.
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