Primary Investigator: Kehar Singh Co- Primary Investigators: Sophie St-Hilaire, Inderpreet Kaur

Fish farming in Punjab is being practiced in natural settings, including rivers, and in artificial ponds. In the state of Punjab, in 2008, there were 6, 695 hectares of water in village ponds and 3, 328 hectares of water in private ponds, overseen and operated by 7,523 fish farmers. In 2012, there were over 50,000 farmers earning their livelihood directly or indirectly through fish farming, and the state of Punjab had planned to engage at least 10,000 more farmers. An average fish farm earns the owner between 150,000 Indian rupees (INR; CAD 26,700) and 250,000 INR (CAD 44,500) per hectare, depending on the variety of fish. Punjab topped the charts in fish productivity at 6,560 kg per hectare in the financial year 2011-2012.

Debnath et al. (2007) assessed the economics of carp farming under semi-intensive and traditional farming systems in the state of Punjab, and found there was an opportunity to improve the profitability of carp production by using high quality feed and better management practices. Since 2007, there has been a dramatic change in fish production in Punjab. However, there do not appear to have been any systematic, scientific studies of the socio-economic aspects of fish production in Punjab.

This study aims to develop an understanding of fish production systems in the state of Punjab, examine socio-economic dimensions, including biosecurity, and make policy recommendations for the socio-economic benefit of the fish farmers. The study also seeks to bridge the knowledge gap in fish aquaculture practices, profitability, production efficiencies, and biosecurity practices of fish farmers in the state of Punjab, India, and develop budget models for evaluation of different production and management strategies.

The study will be conducted in the state of Punjab (India) with the following specific objectives:

1. To examine the existing fish production systems and their economics
2. To develop Microsoft Excel®-based farm budget models for the evaluation of different production and management strategies for each of the fish production systems;
3. To assess the biosecurity practices currently used and reported to be used on fish farms, and to describe the behaviour (knowledge, perceptions, and attitude) of the fish farmers towards biosecurity; and
4. To identify and prioritize the problems and constraints in fish production, and make policy recommendations to improve the socio-economic conditions of fish farmers.