Economic feasibility of organic and conventional fish farming systems of Indian major carps

In the present study, economic feasibility of culturing Indian major carps (IMC) in conventional culture system (CCS) and organic culture system (OCS) was evaluated considering three consecutive years of culture (2010, 2011 and 2012) in experimental ponds with surface area of 0.015 ha, each measuring 0.015 ha. Highest production to the tune of 19 tonnes of Indian major carps per hectare was obtained in OCS. Further, in case of OCS, apart from fish production, vermicompost to the tune of 45,000 kg ha -1 in the first year, and 90,000 kg ha -1 from second year is achievable considering a vermicompost unit with capacity of 200 tonnes per annum. Economic analysis of the culture systems showed that highest net present value (NPV) of 1.06 million US$, a payback period of one year and nine months and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 51 % are achievable per hectare of fish culture pond for OCS assuming the project period to be 10 years. Sensitivity analysis of various costs performed for OCS revealed that profitability of the organic fish farming investment is most sensitive to the total fish production and sale price of the organic fishes. In terms of production of fish, vermicomposting, water quality dynamics, quality of fish and economics, organic culture system is proved to be the best available technique.