Assessment of knowledge level of fish farmers about improved fish farming practices in Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh

Abstract

Fish farming plays a vital role in contributing to worldwide food security and economic advantages to fishers and other stakeholders engaged in the fisheries sector. In India, fisheries sector shows substantial growth in inland fisheries that promotes employment opportunities and livelihoods throughout the nation. The immense inland water resources of Chhattisgarh are predominantly utilized for fisheries activity such as pond culture, riverine and reservoir fisheries. The present study was conducted in all four blocks of Dhamtari district in Chhattisgarh. From the four blocks, a total of 150 fish farmers were selected by using a proportionate stratified random sampling technique. Data were collected by personal interview method with the help of an interview schedule and collected data were classified, tabulated and analysed after subjecting the data using appropriate statistical tools and techniques. The study revealed that 67.33 percent fish farmers fell under the medium level of knowledge followed by 18.67 percent fell under the low level of knowledge, whereas only 14.00 percent respondents were having high level of knowledge respectively. Further the study evaluated seven major knowledge-based aspects i.e. pond construction, pond management, water quality parameters, seed stocking, supplementary feeding, fish health management and miscellaneous scientific practices. The findings reveals that fish farmers possessed the highest knowledge in supplementary feeding (MPS=70.83), followed by seed stocking (MPS=67.60), whereas knowledge on water quality parameters was the lowest (MPS=59.62). Furthermore, the overall knowledge level of fish farmers was found with 65.57 MPS in the study area. It is suggested that educate the fish farmers in these areas would be essential for improving the fish production, sustainable use of resources and improving their livelihood, leading to the overall development of fisheries communities.