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Opportunities and challenges for the development of prawn farming with fish and rice in southeast Bangladesh: potential for food security and economic growth

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Abstract

Although prawn farming in rice fields is concentrated in the southwest of Bangladesh, the southeast region has been identified as a promising area for prawn culture, owing to favorable resources and agro-climatic conditions. To date, however, relatively few farmers in this area have adopted prawn culture. We examined the opportunities and constraints for the development of prawn farming with fish and rice in southeast Bangladesh. The prospects for prawn-carp polyculture and integrated prawn-fish-rice farming in southeast Bangladesh are positive but require institutional and organizational support, and technical assistance. We conclude that the sustainable development of prawn farming with fish and rice in southeast Bangladesh has considerable potential for increasing incomes and improving the food security of farming households, and more broadly the economic growth of the country through earnings from the export of prawns.

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Notes

  1. The term ‘freshwater’ is somewhat misleading as freshwater prawn requires brackish water in the initial stages of its life cycle and then grows in freshwater.

  2. The term ‘prawn’ is used for freshwater species and ‘shrimp’ for marine and brackish water organisms. Statistics often do not distinguish between prawn and shrimp in Bangladesh.

  3. Cox’s Bazar district was excluded due to salt water shrimp farming.

  4. A minimum sample size of 30 is often established to maintain adequate degrees of freedom.

  5. According to Swann (1992), inputs in aquaculture can be classified as material inputs (seed, feed and fertilizer) and management input (labor).

  6. The remittance from around 7 million Bangladeshi people living abroad was estimated at US$12.84 billion in 2011–12, a record in the country’s history – US$1.19 billion higher than the previous fiscal year (Bangladesh Bank 2012).

  7. Farmer field schools are a group-based learning approach that builds knowledge and capacity among farmers and enables them to analyze their problems, identify solutions, develop management plans and implement them.

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Acknowledgments

The research was an extended part of a study on “feasibility of freshwater prawn farming in potential areas of Chittagong division” supported by Winrock International under a Katalyst-funded project. We are grateful to three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. The views expressed herein are solely those of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Fisheries Management, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, 2202, Bangladesh

    Nesar Ahmed

  2. SA Water Centre for Water Management and Reuse, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, 5095, Australia

    Nesar Ahmed

  3. Department of Geography, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, V8W 3R4, Canada

    Mark S. Flaherty

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  1. Nesar Ahmed
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Correspondence to Nesar Ahmed.

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Ahmed, N., Flaherty, M.S. Opportunities and challenges for the development of prawn farming with fish and rice in southeast Bangladesh: potential for food security and economic growth. Food Sec. 5, 637–649 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-013-0285-5

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