Determinants of Yields in Shrimp Culture: Scientific Vs. Traditional Farming Systems in West Bengal

This paper aims at identifying various determinants of shrimp yield in scientific and traditional farming systems in West Bengal. The primary data was collected from two shrimp farming districts—North 24 Parganas and Purba Midnapur during 2004-05. The empirical results derived from the multiple regression analysis show that education and capital costs have a positive impact on the yield in both the systems. But apart from these two variables, some other factors specific to the farming systems also have a significant impact on the yield. In the case of scientific farming, the farmers’ association with other occupations besides shrimp farming has a detrimental effect on the yield. The culture of shrimp in the leased land has a positive impact on the yield. Similarly, in traditional farming, the labor cost has a positive impact on the yield. These evidences suggest that the government should promote alternative income generation schemes in traditional farming especially for the farmers completely dependent on shrimp culture. In the case of scientific farming, the government should promote incentives like crop insurance schemes, which will help the farmers to concentrate entirely on shrimp instead of getting engaged in diversified activities.