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Abstract
Pangasius catfish, Pangasianodoan hypophthalmus farming has been evolved to a shape of commercial enterprise
over the last two decades in north-central part of Bangladesh, particularly in Mymensingh area but there is a lack of
quantitative and qualitative data on the impacts of it on land use pattern. This study was conducted using multiple
methodological tools including participatory rural appraisal (PRA) tools and mainly questionnaire based farm survey
to assess the impacts of Pangasius farming on land use from February to September, 2009. The mean farm size
(ha), water area (ha) and dyke area (ha) was 1.36±1.25, 1.06±1.31 and 0.30±0.27, respectively. The Pangasius
productivity was significantly and positively correlated with water area and dyke area. Around 10.1% area of the study
area was converted to Pangasius farm which was previously used as rice-field. Farmers expanded their farm area by
taking leased lands which contributed to 56.47% of total farm area and the lease value of Pangasius pond was
doubled compared to agriculture land. Around 48% area of dyke were used to produce agriculture crops and the
production was 71.01% lower but profit margin was 76.58% higher than normal land. The discharging wastewater of
Pangasius pond also increased rice productivity in adjacent agriculture farm by 10% and additionally reduced fertilizer
and irrigation cost by 30% and 40%, respectively.