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Abstract
Aquaculture represents the most efficient and sustainable way to guarantee that there is enough protein to feed the world with increasing population. Since carp farming is a promising enterprise, study on the economics and technical bottlenecks on regional basis is highly necessary. Kaveripattinam block of Krishnagiri district was selected purposively because of its rich inland resource endowments. The study was conducted to understand the technical and economic viability of carp culture (Integrated and backyard) and to identify the operational constraints in farming practice. Totally, 31 carp farmers were randomly selected and information based on the specified objectives was collected using a structured interview schedule. Descriptive statistics, costing and Garette ranking techniques were used for analysis. The study revealed that the experience in farming activity lie with a mean of 4.77 years and small farms occupied the major share (81%). Among the reported, three species combination was adopted by 67.74% of the farmers. The economics of carp culture was calculated through estimation of Cost A, Cost B and Cost C with an average output of 586.75 kg/ha/yr and a net income of Rs. 23,623.35/ha @ Rs. 75/kg on an average. Among the variable inputs, seed cost accounted the major share (16.11%) followed by feed (13.58%). Non availability of credit (59.15), lack of quality seed (63.25) and improper guidance (69.00) were perceived as major resource, production and management constraints, respectively. Other constraints include uncertainty in demand, competition and absence of government institutions for marketing.