Present Status of Shrimp Farming in Satkhira, a Southwestern District of Bangladesh

Shrimp has become one of the most important export products in recent decades due toincreasing international demand. Shrimp farming is performing significant role in thelivelihoods of rural people of southwestern part of Bangladesh which is considered thecore areas for shrimp farming. To continue the trend of exporting shrimp worldwide it isvery much needed to be familiar with the current culture practices with the precautionstaken by the shrimp farmers. A total of 30 shrimp farmers in Shyamnagarupazilla ofSatkhira district were interviewed to understand the present status of shrimp farming alongwith to identify the problems faced by the farmers, and to formulate somerecommendations for better shrimp production development. Study showed thatpolyculture was the only culture technique followed by the shrimp farmers using naturalwater sources like rain and tide. Bagda (Penaeusmondon) was the dominant culturedspecies followed by Harina (Metapenaeusmonoceros) because of their economicsignificance. Although wild post-larvae (PL) are better in quality than hatchery producedPL, farmers collected PL from both sources. Farmers usually used inorganic fertilizers likeUrea and TSP instead of organic one, but they preferred natural feeds for cost efficiencyand management purposes. The study also identified that shrimp diseases (white spot, gillrot and fin rot), lower market price, flood, high mortality and lack of scientific knowledgewere the major constraints in shrimp farming. Government, donor agencies, planners,researchers and NGOs, therefore, should come forward to assist farmers for mitigatingproblems and achieve sustainable shrimp export earnings of Bangladesh. 
Res. Agric., Livest. Fish.7(2): 311-320,  August 2020


INTRODUCTION
Bangladesh is widely recognized as one of the most suitable countries in the world for shrimp (Penaeus monodon) farming because of its favorable resources and agro-climatic conditions. A sub-tropical monsoonal climate, low lying agricultural land, saline water availability and a vast area of shallow water provide ideal conditions for shrimp production (Ahmed et al., 2008a). During the last three decades development of shrimp farming has attracted considerable attention due to its high export potential. The shrimp and prawn sector are the second largest export industry after readymade garments, generating US$396million annually and contributing by 5.7% to the total value of exports (DOF, 2013).During 2012-2013, Bangladesh exported 50,333 tons of shrimp and prawn, valued at US$ 337.62 million, 82% of which was shrimp and the remaining 18% was prawn(Export Promotion Bureau, 2013).
Shrimp farming in the south and southeastern coastal belt of Bangladesh began in the early 1970s (DOF, 2012). Most shrimp and prawn farms (53%) are in southwest Bangladesh mainly in the districts of Satkhira, Khulna and Bagerhat and produce 46% of country's total shrimp and prawn production (DOF, 2013). In 2010, the total area under shrimp and prawn farming was estimated to be around 275,274 hectares (DOF, 2013) while in 1980 it was 20,000 hectares, indicating an average increase of 35% per annum (DOF, 2013). At different regions of Bangladesh, many shrimp/ prawn farms have been established, but maximum production (78%) come from greater Khulna regions which cover 74.5% area of total shrimp/prawn farms of Bangladesh (DOF, 2012). The most spectacular boost of shrimp farming has taken place in the Satkhira district where a large number of farmers have converted their rice fields to profitable shrimp and prawn farms (Ahmed et al., 2008b). However, a number of studies have been conducted on shrimp farming in Bangladesh, including, technical efficiency of shrimp farming (Begum et al., 2015), economic analysis of shrimp farming (Alam et al., 2007), shrimp culture in Bangladesh with social and economic status (Alauddin and Hamid, 1999), shrimp farmers livelihood analysis (Mamun et.al., 2019), changing in shrimp culture practices in Southwestern region focusing on disease (Parvez et.al., 2006) etc. Despite these, we don't have enough information on how the farmers culture the shrimp and what are the problems they mostly face. Therefore, this study was conducted to know the present status of shrimp farming in the Southwestern region mainly in Satkhira district of Bangladesh as well as to formulate some recommendations for development of shrimp production.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study was conducted in the Satkhira district, a coastal area of the Bay of Bengal, situated in the southwest part of Bangladesh from May to June, 2015. Satkhira is the most important and promising area for shrimp culture because of the availability of wild post larvae, favorable resources and climatic conditions. This district is divided into seven upazillas. Among them, Shyamnagar is situated in the most southern part, near the Bay of Bengal. It is divided into 13 unions. Among them, 6 unions were selected for data collection. A welldesigned questionnaire was prepared for collection of relevant information in accordance with the objectives. Data were collected by questionnaire interviewing of 30 shrimp farmers in the selected unions of Shyamnagar upazilla of Satkhira district. Farmers were selected for questionnaire interview through random sampling and Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools like Large Group Discussion (LGD), Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and Cross-Check interviews with Key Information (KI). Besides primary information study, secondary data were collected from Department of Fisheries (DOF), Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), relevant journals, thesis, reports and official records.
Collected information obtained from the survey were accumulated, grouped and interpreted according to the objectives as well as parameters. Some data contained numeric and narrative facts. The collected data were then coded, summarized, processed, tabulated by using simple statistical tools like averages and percentages and analyzed by Microsoft Excel.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Coastal shrimp culture in the tidal waters had been an age-old practice around coastal areas of Satkhira, Khulna, Bagerhat and Cox's Bazar district of Bangladesh. At present, shrimp farming areas are rapidly expanding horizontally due to increasing demand of shrimps in the global market. As a result, shrimp farming practice is also increasing day by day, especially in the Southwest part of Bangladesh.

Status of Shrimp Farmers
This study revealed that 50% shrimp farmers in Shyamnagar upazilla started shrimp farming in 2000-2009 whereas, 13.33% and 36.67% started shrimp farming in 1980-1989 and 1990-1999 respectively. That means 50% farmers were continuing their shrimp culture for 6-15 years where only 13.33% had 16-25 years and the rest farmers had 26-35 years of shrimp farming experience. Chowdhury (2007) observed that 80% farmers started shrimp farming in 2000-2004 in Southern region of Bangladesh which supported the present findings. A huge amount of fund is required for shrimp culture investment. It was found that 86.67% farmers arranged the fund by their own, but the rest 13.33% farmers had to take loan from bank.
Most of the farmers (73.33%) received training on shrimp culture from UFO, NGO and World Fish Centre but the rest farmers (26.67%) did not get any training. This finding was contradictory with the findings of Bari (2004) who reported that only 30% farmers in Bagerhat district of Bangladesh were trained on shrimp farming. However, the farmers were involved in different occupations, for example business, teaching, agriculture, daily workers, politics etc. even some were students too before shrimp culture ( Figure

Information on Shrimp culture pond
According to size, the ponds of the shrimp farms in the study area were divided into three categories: small (1-1000 dec.), medium (1001-2000 dec.) and large (>2000 dec.). Most of the farmers (70%) had small ponds where 20% and 10% farmers had medium and large ponds respectively. The present finding was similar to the finding of Kabir (2009) who reported the average pond size of shrimp farms in coastal region of Bangladesh 1-10 ha and slightly more than the findings of Sayeed (1995) and BAFRU (1990) who observed the shrimp ponds 5-20 ha and 60-100 ha respectively in size. On the other hand, the depth of the ponds was not constant, it varied depending on seasons. The average pond depth in rainy season (3-6 ft) was slightly more than that in dry season (1-3ft) (Figure 02), which was similar with the findings of Chandra et al. (2013). However, most of the farmers (80%) had single ownership of their ponds and others had multiple ownership. Among them, 10% farmers had joint 2 ownership and other 3.33% and 6.67% had joint 2-3 and joint 4-5 ownership respectively. Mehedie (2004) mentioned that 80% farms were in single ownership in Bagerhat region of Bangladesh which matched with the present finding.

Farming technology
All farmers of the study area practiced polyculture where they cultured Shrimp (Bagda, horina) with other small prawn, crabs, tilapia, tengra, bele etc. All of them cultured shrimp almost all the year round from January to December. That means shrimp farming was practiced in polyculture system over the year in Southwestern part of Bangladesh.

Pre-stocking measures i. Pond type and Embankment structures
All ponds of the farmers were perennial. But pond embankments of majority (56.67%) farmers were complete, some (36.67%) were well arranged and a few (6.67%) were complete as well as well arranged (Table 01). Therefore, almost all the pond embankments were well structured.

ii. Status of aquatic vegetation and pond drying
In the study area, aquatic vegetation was present in 73.33% ponds, but the rests (26.67%) were without aquatic vegetation (Table 01). All ponds of the farms were dried during the last dry season. This finding was different from the finding of Chowdhury (2007) who noticed that 75% farmers dried their shrimp ponds in south region of Bangladesh.

iii. Source of water supply
Quality water supply is very important for productive shrimp culture. In most (93.33%) of the ponds, water was supplied from rain and tidewater, but in few ponds (6.67%), water source was only rainwater (Table 01).

iv. Water colour of the ponds
Water colour indicates whether the pond is productive or not. In Shyamnagar upazilla, water colour of most of the ponds (73.33%) was green, some (23.33%) were light green and a very few (3.33%) were muddy (Table 01). That indicated most of the ponds were productive.

v. Status of fertilization and fertilizers used
Most of the farmers (76.67%) in the study area used fertilizers in their ponds for increasing productivity of the ponds, but some others didn't use any fertilizers. 69.57% farmers used Urea and TSP, 21.74% used cowmanure with Urea and TSP and the rests used only TSP in their ponds. Moreover, all the farmers used lime at the rate of 0.1-1.0 kg/dec/yr in their ponds (Table 01). Therefore, most of the shrimp farmers used inorganic fertilizers in their ponds and some used organic also. Bari (2004) mentioned that about 45% shrimp farmers used fertilizers in their farms, which was lower than the present finding.  Alauddin and Hamid (1999) who stated that the main species of Southwest coastal region of Bangladesh was Bagda (Penaeus monodon).Besides these commercial species, farmers also cultured some non-commercial species like Gura chingri, jhora chingri, chamina chingri, chaka chingri, kuchia, crabs, prawn, tengra, bele, poa, mullet, coral and tilapia in their farms (Table 02).

ii. Source and quality of Post Larvae (PL)
Both of natural and hatchery-produced PL were used by the shrimp farmers. 46.67% farmers collected PL from hatchery, 20% from natural source and 33.33% from both of hatchery and natural sources (Table 02). But all farmers mentioned that wild PL was better than hatchery-produced PL. Most of the farmers (86.67%) stocked high-quality PL and the rest 13.33% stocked medium quality PL in their shrimp farms (Table 02).
iii. Stocking density An optimum PL stocking density determination is a pre-requisite for successful shrimp culture. 66.67%farmers stocked PL at the rate of 30-50/decimal, whereas the 20% and 13.33% farmers followed PL stocking density of 51-70/decimal and 71-90/decimal respectively. In different way, it can be said that 63.33% farmers stocked 10,000-3,10,000 PL per year while other 16.67% and 20% farmers annually stocked 3,10,000 -6,10,000 and > 6,10,000 PL in their farms (Table 02). The present finding was also coincided with the findings of Moniruzzaman (1996).

vii. Frequency of PL stocking /year
Majority (53.33%) of the farmers stocked PL 10 times/year, 40% farmers 9 times/yearand6.67% stocked 8 times/year (Table 02). That means the farmers stocked almost every month interval. Kabir (2009) observed PL stocking in the farms in coastal region of Bangladesh 4-5 times/year which was less than the present finding.

Post-stocking measures i. Feeding
All the farmers in Shyamnagar upazilla preferred natural feed; they never used artificial feed because of its high value, insufficient supply and large size of farms which might create feed managing problem during culture period which also found by Kabir (2009).

ii. Measurement of water quality parameters
Most of the farmers (63.33%)didn't measure water quality parameters due to lack of technical knowledge, measuring instruments etc. 36.67% farmers measured water quality parameters when they faced problems of which 63.33% measured temperature, dissolved oxygen and pH; 18.18% measured alkalinity including these parameters and the rest 18.18% measured only dissolved oxygen and pH.

iii. Chemical application
Farmers applied different chemicals such aslime, rotenone, oxy-sos, zeolite, disinfectant, zeofress etc. into the ponds to maintain the water quality. All the farmers used lime to increase the pH level of the pond, make the water free from germ, disinfect water, control disease and clean the water. 23.33% farmers used oxy-sos to increase dissolve oxygen and zeolite to purify water, 26.67% farmers used disinfectant to disinfect pond water and zeofress to maintain water quality and purify water. A very few farmers (6.67%) used rotenone to remove all species of the ponds during drying (Table 03).

iv. Use of medicines for disease treatment
Fifty percent farmers used medicine for treatment of shrimp diseases, but others didn't use any medicine. Among these 50% farmers, all used aqua clean plus and beside aqua clean plus, 30% farmers used comolex and 20% farmers used KMno4 in their shrimp farms (Table 03).

v. Water discharge and exchange
All farmers in the study area discharged the farm water through drainage canal. Every 15 days interval all the farmers added or changed water into the ponds. They added or exchanged water to maintain the water level of the pond, to make the water germ free, to get PL and other fry from the natural source, for better growth, to recover from disease, for moulting purpose and to get natural PL from the tidewater.

vi. Harvesting of shrimp
All farmers used traps for harvesting of shrimp from the farms. During harvesting, some trash fish like Gura chingri (56.67%), chamina chingri (16.678%) or other species (26.67%) were generally thrown out.

Annual production of shrimp
Annual production of shrimp varied from year to year in the study area. Average shrimp production (320 kg/acre) in 2013 was higher than that in 2012 (308 kg/acre) and 2014 (286.66 kg/acre) ( Table 03)

Marketing systems of shrimp
All the farmers of the study area marketed shrimp to local piker, arotdar and local agent. Beside these places, 43% farmers sold their products in upazilla markets and 16.67% sold in district markets (Table 03).

Problems faced by the shrimp farmers i. Shrimp mortality
High shrimp mortality occurred every year due to different diseases due to shortage of skilled person. Major shrimp diseases were White spot disease, gill rot and fin rot. Almost all farmers faced white spot diseases (WSD) in shrimp in their farms. Beside this, 16.67% and 10% farmers found gill rot and fin rot diseases in shrimp farms respectively (Table 03). This finding was similar with the finding of Chandra et al. (2013) who mentioned WSD as the main disease of shrimp and Islam (2011) also reported shrimp disease as a major problem in shrimp farm.

ii. Low market price
One of the most important problems was lower market price of products. Besides this, drought, lack of transport facilities, long distance of market, poor road facilities, harassment by professional fish seller and stealing of shrimp flood was common problems. Das (1993) also mentioned lack of scientific knowledge and lack of marketing facilities as major problems during shrimp culture which were similar with the present findings.

iii. Problems due to poor water quality
Due to lack of proper training and knowledge, the farmers faced problems to ensure good water quality. As a result of poor water quality, 63.33% farmers faced toxicity problem, 60% algal bloom and 46.67% found oxygen depletion in their shrimp farms.

RECOMMENDATIONS
Although shrimp culture technology was being improved day by day in Southwestern part of Bangladesh, this study provides some recommendation based on the problems faced by the farmers to improve shrimp production further.
I. Government and NGOs should actively encourage the shrimp farmers to apply scientific culture techniques. II.
Root level farmers should be helped to get legal market value of shrimp as low market value can threat the total culture method. III. Government should help to provide wild PL for better production. IV.
Government and private sector or the NGOs should come forward to establish more shrimp seed multiplication farms and hatcheries in the study area to increase the production of good quality shrimp seeds so that the farmers can get the shrimp seed easily and at cheap rate. V.
A processing plant should be established in Satkhira district by the government. VI.
Medicines should be required against the severe and most common disease of shrimp, White Spot Disease. VII.
Motivation programmes for the farmers should be strengthened to protect various shrimp and fish juveniles during bagda collection. VIII. Government should give enough loans to the farmers so that they can start and continue shrimp farming. IX.
Government should take necessary steps to train shrimp farmers at free of cost. X.
Government must ban all kinds of corruptions during processing and exporting shrimp. XI.
Finally, if more areas could be brought under shrimp cultivation, the country could probably earn a huge amount of foreign exchange by exporting shrimp.

CONCLUSION
Shrimp farming is the main activity of the rural people of the Southwestern coastal part of Bangladesh and is performing significant role in their livelihoods. Few decades ago, most of the farmers in coastal region started shrimp farming in small scale. In recent times, farmers are also practicing shrimp culture at larger scale by receiving proper training and gaining scientific knowledge on shrimp culture. Nevertheless, the production rate of shrimp in our country is lower compared to other countries. However, production can be raised up to 2 to 3 folds by improving culture systems and management practices. Having higher profit from shrimp culture, the farmers, as well as non-farmers, are being more interested in this sector. Therefore, the authorities should concern about import of virus-infected stocks, disease monitoring, and distribution of new scientific knowledge among the farmers which are important for the improvement of the conventional shrimp farming system to achieve sustainable development of the rural shrimp farmers.