Problems and prospects of freshwater fish farming in Navsari District, Gujarat (India)

The growth in inland sector of Gujarat is steady, though it has a vast production potential, particularly in inland fisheries (mainly reservoirs) and aquaculture. The sector has showed an average growth of only about 6 per cent over the five year plan periods. There is a vast gap between demand and supply of fish and fish production which could be tackled by the application of diversified farming technologies supported by effective extension measures. To understand the socioeconomical status, current farming practices and the existing adoption gap with respect to the available technical knowhow, an adoption gap survey and analysis was performed in the Navsari district of Gujarat State. The result of study showed that majority (48.15%) of respondents were young (up to 30 years age group), 60.19 per cent of them have secondary to college level of education. More than half (52.00 %) had joint family system with 5-7 members in family. More than three fifth (66.67 %) had pond size above 6 ha. for their profession and have membership in one organization. Regarding their occupation, 39.81 per cent doing labor work with fish farming followed by fish farming + service (35.19 %) and fish farming + Agriculture (25.00 %). It is also observed that 71.30 per cent of respondents having low level of knowledge of aquaculture practices, About more than three fourth (75.92 %) of the respondents were framed in low level of adoption category and the highest adoption gap (95.35 %) was observed in fish species composition ratio and 85.19 per cent of respondents responded that information on the proper scientific cultivation practices are not available easily which is considered as the major constraint. To strengthen the fish farmers” community of the region, the strategies like development of infrastructure facilities like establishment of hatcheries, feed mill at taluka level along with establishment of marketing channels and efficient methodologies for transfer of technology and establishment of demonstration models are advised.