An Economic Analysis of Production and Marketing of Fish in Raipur District of Chhattisgarh, India

The study aims to examine the economics of fish production and marketing of fish in Raipur district of Chhattisgarh. Primary data was collected from 45 individual fish farmers and 5 fish farmers’ cooperative societies in Raipur district. The findings reveal a trend in the area under fisheries, with a growth rate of 3.26% at the state level and 3.45% in Raipur, though the latter is statistically non-significant. In contrast, fish production has shown significant growth, with a 9.93% increase at the state level and 13.65% in Raipur. Productivity improvements are also evident, with a 3.58% rise in Chhattisgarh and 9.19% in Raipur district. The data shows that the majority of the farmers (74%) practice mixed farming, integrating fish farming with traditional agriculture. This practice serves as a risk management strategy, as it provides additional income in case of agricultural failure. The research highlights that the largest proportion of farmers are in the age group of30-50 years, representing 32% of the sample, while younger and older farmers account for 25% and 15%, respectively. The economic analysis of fish farming in the district reveals adverse range of net returns across different farm sizes. Small-scale farmers (less than 1 hectare) generally reported lower productivity and net returns compared to large-scale farmers (more than 2 hectares). The net returns of small-scale farmers ranged from Rs. 142,601 to Rs. 250,000 per hectare whereas large-scale farmers experienced returns between Rs. 500,000 and Rs. 832,790, per hectare demonstrating the higher profitability potential of larger-scale operations. There were there marketing channel prevailing in the Study area viz: channel I (producer - consumer), channel II (producer - retailer - consumer) and channel III (producer – wholesaler – retailer - consumer), Most of the fishes were sold to channel I by fish farmer cooperative society and in case of individual fish farmer, channel III was popular.