Paddy and Shrimp Mixed Farming

Paddy-Shrimp Mixed Farming

It is said that Asia is the motherland of rice. About 91% of the total production of rice of the world comes from Asia. Rice is one of the main food grains which is used for the survival of more than 3 billion people of the world. Rice is the main food of almost all of the Asian people.

On the other hand Shrimp is the most potential element in fisheries sector in the coastal regions of South Asia. It has a huge demand in all over the world. For this huge demand the price of shrimp is also very high. This is why shrimp is also known as white gold. But there is a problem. We have known first that paddy is the main crop of Asia. If a farmer wants to cultivate shrimp he has to sacrifice paddy production. Because, a shrimp farm needs a pond and in a pond it is not possible to plant paddy plant. This is the main problem for the farmers that they have to choose only one to produce.

Paddy Plant             Ripe Paddy             Baby Shrimp           Adult Shrimp

The solution of this problem comes from the Paddy-Shrimp mixed farming system. In this system the same land is used for both paddy and shrimp production in the same time period. So, the farmers are able to produce both paddy and shrimp at the same time from the same piece of land.

In case of this type of mixed farming system a small pond is dug at one side of the land and narrow canals at other three or two sides. These pond and canals are the living place of the shrimp. The plain land is used for planting paddy plant.

Paddy-Shrimp Mixed Farming Diagram

Baby shrimp is brought in pond mainly at the midsummer. The main time of the shrimp grown up is rainy season. In that time the shrimp need large surface to move. It is also the period of paddy cultivation. In that time period paddy plants are planted on the plain land and as it is rainy season there is enough water in the paddy field. So, shrimp can easily come out from the pond and canals and can fluently move into the paddy field. During the total rainy season shrimp gets the surface to move on. Paddy is harvested at the early winter. Then there is no water on the surface. Shrimp takes shelter at the pond and canals. At the last of the winter and early spring shrimp is collected to sell.
This Paddy-Shrimp mixed farming has two main benefits of the farmers:

1. The farmers have to sacrifice a little portion of rice that was produced from the land. But as the compensation of that little amount they get a stock of shrimp. As the price of shrimp is very high, the farmers get a handsome amount of profit.
2. As in the rainy season shrimps get surface to move on, they can collect their food from the nature. As a result the feeding cost of the shrimp reduces.

For these reasons farmers of coastal region of South Asia are very much interested in Paddy-Shrimp mixed farming now-a-days. It has opened the door of a very much potential farming method of the belonging region.