An analysis of socio-economic profile and constraints of the Indian Major Carps (IMC) seed rearing farmers in Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu

Abstract

India is the second largest fish producing aquaculture nation in the world after China. Inland fisheries sector, aquaculture is poised to play a pivotal role in increasing fish production ensuring food security and enhancing the growth in state economy. Indian Major Carp production is an important sector and also contributes at significant in inland fish production of Tamil Nadu. The aim of this study is to understand the socio economic status and constraints of farmers engaged in IMC production in Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu. It is one of the important districts due to a significant quantity of Indian Major Carp (IMC) production, availability of rich water resources and employment opportunities. In this regard, sample size for this study was 75 and simple random technique was used for primary data collection. Collected information was tabulated and analyzed by suitable statistical tools. The result of socio economic characteristics of IMC rearing farmers revealed that majority of the respondents (40%) were in the 41-50 age class, 53.33 % of farmers educated at high school level, 60 % of farmers had 10 years experience and 62.67 % of farmers had more than three members in the family with the dependency ratio 1:1.82. In IMC rearing, inadequate availability of quality carp seeds was the major constraint faced by the farmers followed by short supply of water and the high cost of supplementary feed. The various constraints are adversely affecting farmers in obtaining expected fish yields and income. So, by solving the constraints faced by the famers will help to improve the IMC production.