Establishment of integrated farming fish pond demonstrations of fishery station throughout the Northeast [Thailand]
1988
Tomich, R.J. (Department of Fisheries, Bangkok (Thailand)) | Vathanah Liluphat
Department of Fisheries, through the Northeast Fishery Project is actively promoting intergrated livestock fish production throughout Northeast Thailand. This farming system has been successfully adopted by many medium to large scale livestock producers because of increased revenues from the sale of fish. The practice has not been as readily accepted by small scale farmers. This paper discusses some of the apparent reasons for a lower than expected adoption rate. There exist economic and cultural barriers to the expansion of small-scale livestock fish production systems in Northeast Thailand. To be a success most waste products from livestock production should enter directly into the fish pond. This requires confinement of the livestock at or near the fishpond and the consequent use of high cost animal feeds. Livestock production tends to be economically risky for small farmers because of the capital investment tied up in the animals and the uncertainty with respect to future market prices. Relative to a small rural farmers cash income, the investment required for animal housing, purchase of young animals and animal feed, is high. Confinement of animals and fish requires continous monitoring and husbandry. This will require family members live away from the village and a subsequent disruption in the traditional village social structure of the Northeast. Any such change is likely to be stressful and may not be favoured by individuals who would otherwise consider integrated livestock/fish production.
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This bibliographic record has been provided by Thai National AGRIS Centre, Kasetsart University
