An assessment of alternative strategies for the integration of pond aquaculture into the small‐scale farming system of North‐east Thailand

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Abstract
This paper uses a linear programming model to examine the economic viability of four fish production strategies in the context of rainfed farming systems in the north‐eastern region of Thailand. The four systems are rice bran feeding system, pond fertilization using buffalo manure, fish production recommendations developed by the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) Recommendations and an integrated duck/fish production system. These systems have been introduced into North‐eastern Thailand where the main obstacles to fish production are the lack of indigenous knowledge offish culture and a shortage of water. While technical feasibility studies are needed to evaluate the practical viability of aquaculture technologies, economic assessment is required to assess their commercial viability. The objective of this paper is to examine whether or not these fish production systems can contribute to, and integrate with, the prevailing farm system in the North‐east of Thailand. The linear programming model is used to determine the optimum on farm product mix that maximizes net returns under each of the four production systems. Among different resources, labour requirement in the fish‐stocking month appeared to be the first binding resource, while capital requirement was not a constraint for an average farming household of the region. A sensitivity analysis is presented to show how each of the fish production systems operates with different levels of pond size, labour and capital availability. The results of the study show that these aquaculture systems are economically attractive and can contribute significantly to the livelihood of the small‐scale farmers of North‐east Thailand.