Assessment of perceived farming risks, communication of risk management practices, and evaluation of their efficiency in Pacific white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) farming—a survey-based cross-sectional study

• Published in: Aquaculture international Vol. 29; no. 6; pp. 2713 - 2730
• Main Authors: M., Kumaran, Anand, PR, Kumar, J. Ashok, Muralidhar, M., Vasagam, K. P. Kumaraguru, Vijayan, K. K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-12-2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aquaculture; Aquaculture enterprises; Aquaculture products; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Coastal states; Communication; Cross-sectional studies; Economics; Evaluation; Farmers; Farms; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Life Sciences; Litopenaeus vannamei; Marine crustaceans; Penaeus vannamei; Probability theory; Risk assessment; Risk management; Shellfish; Shellfish farming; Shrimp culture; Surveying; Training; Zoology; India; Communication and capacity development; shrimp; Efficiency; Risk assessment and management; Certification
• ISSN: 0967-6120; 1573-143X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10499-021-00775-6

Pacific white shrimp (
Penaeus vannamei
) farming is an important commercial aquaculture production system contributing substantially to the economic and societal development in India. Though technically efficient, shrimp farming is potentially susceptible to production risks. A risk assessment study was undertaken to ascertain the potential risks in
P. vannamei
shrimp farming by developing a framework consisting of risk perception and assessment, communication of risk management practices, and evaluation of their efficiency in tackling the risks. The primary data collected from a proportionate randomly chosen 604 shrimp farmers across the coastal states revealed that
P. vannamei
shrimp farming was prone to twenty-seven risks having very low to very high probability of occurrence with marginally negative to a catastrophic impact on production and income. Appropriate risk-preventive and management measures were proposed and suitably communicated to the shrimp farmers through training workshops, farmer handbooks in vernacular languages, and launching a mobile app module on on-farm risk assessment. A follow-up study conducted among a random subset of the original sample indicated that 76% of the farmers adopted the proposed risk management practices and experienced that the practices were highly efficient (up to 80%) in tackling the risks associated with shrimp farming. Furthermore, it was observed that adoption of risk management practices is essential to have a successful shrimp production of marketable size and an additional expenditure for adoption of these practices was estimated to be 0.5 USD per kg of shrimp produced. Shrimp farming is a delicate and dynamic production system, and it is unrealistic to avoid the emergence of hazards in the production cycle. Therefore, it is imperative to train the farmers on better management practices (BMP) and develop a certification plan to accredit the farms for the adoption of BMPs that would ensure an economically viable shrimp production in India.