SOCiO ECONOMIC STUDY OF TWO BRACkISH WATER SITES IN THE STATE OF KE RALA R.Sathiadhas Kr i shna Srinath R.Narayana kumar R.Reghu June 1995 • S ocia Economic Evalua tion and Technology Transfer- Oivlslon Central Ma r i ne Fisheries Res .. apch Institute (Ind ian Counc il cif Ag ricultura l Research ) Cochin - 682 0147 Keraia .. l \, Ackno"'l edgements The authors are thankful to Dr M.Devaraj~ Director , CMFRI for al l his encou ragemen t a nd facilities extended by him for the successfu l completion of this work~ Thanks are also due to Dr P.Veda Vyasa Rao , former Director of CMFRI , for i\ts keen interest" to t ak e up this work and constant guidance in executi ng the ",oT'k. The help rendered by Shri . A.Kanakkan Senior 1 Technical Assistant, Smt.K.P . Salini , Techn i cal Assistant, in tabu.lation and analysif~ of the data a.nd Shri.R.C.Shenoy, in l secre tarial assistance is h erewith ac kno wledged~ I The authors are grateful "to Shri . B . S.Bhatia, Director,J! Shri.Arbind Sinha, Scientist, SF, Development and Educational Communication Unit (DECU) of Space Applicat ion Centre (SAC ) Ahemadabad of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for p r'o Y id irlg this o p portunity and excel l ent coord ination in completi ng this aSSignment. '- ,t -I \ I \ I \ Contents \ Ac know l edgements \ \ List of Tables \ List of Figu,.es \. Int,.oduction Chapte ,. 2 Research Methodology: 2 .. 1 S e lection of sites 2.2 Iden t ifica tion of villag e s P reparat ion of schedules 2.4 Sur vey and fi eld training Data collection 2.6 Analysis to .. Chapter 3 Details of the survey i n Kodungallur and Mulav ugadu s i tes : 3. 1 Organisa tion o f fi shing within the fishing villages , J Group level discussions '2. Analysis of the ~loll s et,old survey Ch ap t; e,. 4 Current utilisa tion patte rn of selected wate r bodies 4. 1 Capture fishery .. 2.'1' 4 .. 2 Cu I t u ref i t;t1E! T'y •• Z 9 Chapter 5 Conclusions (iiJ • List o f Tabl es < l ~ s,nect "ed vUl l ges in the sites 2.Number of parl iCiPants in the Qrou~ ~iscuss ion-Kodungallur site 13 I 3.Nu mber of participants in the group discussion-Mulavugadu site Ii' 4.Literacy leyel of the sample respondents 20 5.Age group of the sample respondents 2' 6.Housing pattern of the sample respondents 7.Land ownership of the sample respondents 2~ 8.Income level of the s ample of respondents 24 List of fi g ures 1. Proposed brackish water farm sites in Trichur and Ernakulam districts in Kerala Map showing proposed brackish water farm site near f(odungallLlT' Map showing the proposed brackish ~ Jater farm site north of Mulavukadu island near Ernaku l am <.iiI) -- SOCIO ECONOMIC STUDY OF TW O BRACKISH WATER SITES I N THE STATE OF KERALA Chapter' 1 Introdu ction 1.0 Background Fisheries form arl important segme nt of the I ndian economy :i.n te r ms of inc:ome generatioll dnd em ployment~ contr' ibuted Rs 5082 crores at factor cost to India's Gross Darn e st i!: PT~oduct (GDP) :l,., 1992-93 . It also supports the livelihood of about 10 mi ll ion people. The export eaI~nings from fisheries in 1994-95 is Rs 3270 crores throlJg h the sales of lak~l tonnes of sea food acc ounting for 3.2 p 9 r c en t of tt,e total <. e xport earnings~ PraWfl (] ccu pi e s majol~ share i n terfns of quan tity and v alue a nd is the pc)tential variety for boosting our exports~ With t Ile declinirl9 prawn catctl from capture fisheries, attention has be en diverted to aquaculturec An estimated 1.7 mil l io]', hectare ( m. t, a) of estuarine and brackish water coastal areas sui t able fo r aquaculture operations a I~' €I a v 2~ i 1 ab 1 8 in our country~ Out of 1.2 m.ha of potential br-acktsh bJater araa ayailable~ 68~rOO ha (1993-94) utilised '. for aquacu 1 tu re i n all tIle coastal states. With the emp h asis o n QJ'OW more pra~'n s , efforts a re und erway to b ri ng more I v b rack i sh water ar'ea u nder cultursu 1 '. --- - _ ._ _. The Development and Educational Communicat ion Unit (DECU) in Space Application Centre (SAC) of Indian Space Research Organisation (IBRO), Ahemad abad had a programme for identifying the potential brackish water sites in the coastal states for prawn farming through satellite imagaries . Feasibility of taking up prawn farming highly deperlds on the socio--econamic status and attitudes of tt,e people living around the sites towards the scheme. The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Cochin has been identified to conduct the Socia-economic study at th e select ed sites in ttle state of Kerala. Aftar identifying the sites through satellite imageries, the DECU, SAC of ISRO, convened a meeting of the principal ~ nvestigators of the respective states at SAC; Ahemadabad on 30~8.9 4 and explained their requirements and procedures to conduct the study. Accordingly a contract was made between CMFRI, Cochin and DEC U of SAC, Ahemadabad to undertake a socio-economic survey at the selected two sites of Kerala state~ 1.2 The study is expected to provide detailed information on various aspects for consideration of farm operation and management. The aim of conducting this socia-economic study is to provide answers to the following questions for takiAg decisions related to semi-intensive brackish water shrimp farming 2 in Ker al a~ 1 • HO~ J to involve the potentially poo r individual beneficiar'ies in the br'ack isll wate r semi-intensive shriolp farm o pera tions and management to p rovide maximum benefits to the m? Wt,at size cl f ponds st,ould be designed for a given brackish water shrimp farm in Kerala? What ki n d of t echno-manageri al support will be required to r u n tt,e brackisll wa ter shrimp farm? 4. Who shou ld be responsible fO l ~ master-mind ing the total operation, input supp ly , productioil, supervision and marketing of shr'imp in Kerala? 5 . Ho\~ the benefits flosses will be shared by t he indiv idual, c:ommunity and cooperative5 ? The Quick and Useful Evaluative Research Investigation --­I (QWERI) techr1ique of Rap id RlJral Appra i sal (RRA) mettlod was / adopted in c ond ucting the present study ~ The group meetings and househol d sUT~vey were carried aut at the s urroundi ng villages of the selected sites a t Kodungallur region during FebruarY'- March, 1995 a n d i n Mulavukadu region during March-April 1995~ Data has been collected using a ll the fOU1 ~ types of schedules~ 3 \' . t • 1.3.Report The r ~port consists of 5 chapteps~ Chapter 1 deals wi.th intrDduction and background of the study. In chapter' the res~arch methodology adbpt~d iri condu~ting the st~dy has been described .. Chapter 3 discusses the details of the survey in villages adjoining the 'sites a"t KOQungallur and Mulavukadu. Chapter 4 encompasses the present utilisation pattern of th~ selected wate r bddie~ and its sur~ounding regions. Chapter 5 g "ives the conelusions of ~he st~dy. -r 4 Chapter 2 Research Methodology 2 . 1.Selection of site The gxperts of the Spac e Application Centre, (ISRO), Ah emadabad , with the help of satellite image ries~ identified two sites having an ar2d of about 300 hectares each in Perumbalam and Kodungallur regions if1 Ernakul am distT~ict of Kerala as the potential sites for the development of brackish ~Jater fisheries in the state. An initial s urvey conducted by the research team comprising and tec:hrlical staff "from Soc ia Economic Evaluation and Tectlnology Trar,sfeT~ Division (SEETTD) of CMFRI, revealed that Perumbalam area is having limited scope for brackish water aqllaculture dlle to man-made changes in years . Suetl changes ar'e, 1 .Deve lopment o f coconut plantatiofls an d utilisation of - brackish water for retting. 2.Extensive recl ama tion of brac k ish ~Jater regions for paddy cultivation. 3 . B l ock ing of saline water entry ir\ the identified regions by high bunds constructed by farmers for paddy cultivation. 4~U tilis ation of narrO~J belt of brackish wate r for navigation purpose. 5 The above constraints in taking up of brackish water aquaculture in Perumbalam was brought to the notice of the DECU, SAC, Ahemadabad. As per the instructions received from the project personnel at DECU, the Keral a State F ishe r i es Department and the Agency for Aquaculture Development for Kera l a (ADAK) were l ..... , ..., - consulted to identify all al ternate site. 1~C:C:c)T"d i ng l y an --- extens i v e s u rvey was undertaken at selected sites in Ernakulam district and th e Mu l avukadu area was identifiedu 2.2.Iden tification of v illages The villages around the proposed sites ~Je re se lect ed b y purpos ive sampl irlg . Irlitially, the panchayat maps were obtained from the offices and the selected sites ~Jere located in the map. Then all the s urround irlg v ill ages located within a radius of 5 km ir) which potential brackish water farmers live were sel ected.