Constraints faced and test of agreement among shrimp farmers of Palghar District in Maharshtra

A study was undertaken to analyse the constraints faced by shrimp farmers in Palghar district which has highest shrimp production (2908t) in Maharashtra. The district has 796 ha brackishwater area under shrimp culture. Out of 65 registered shrimp farmers, information was collected from 55 shrimp farmers. List of constraints was prepared through focused group discussions with key informant famers. These constraints were then classified into five categories viz. extension, financial, production, marketing and infrastructural. Shrimp farmers were asked to provide their level of agreement towards these constraints on a five point Likert scale. Weighted average (WA) scores were calculated to rank constraints. Study revealed that Palghar has not been able to exploit its full potential due to various constraints. Out of this, production and extension constraints ranked high. Few remedial measures for disease had highest WA (19.4) followed by high cost of feed (17.9), less availability of quality seed (17.8) and shrimp price fluctuation (17.6). Less credit facility, insurance and market price information also had high WA. Value of Kendall’s coefficient of concordance (W) was 0.85 suggesting overall agreement among shrimp farmers. It was suggested to set up Aqua One Centres (AOCs) to provide complete services for sustainability of shrimp farming.