Manuscript Number: 2695 zyxwvutsrqponm Indian Journal of Ecology (2018) 45(2): 40&410 NAAS Rating: 4.96 Assessing and Prioritizing Training Needs of Shrimp Farmers of Palghar District, lyiaharaslitra Sandesh Patil and Arpita Sharma* Fisheries Economics, Extension and Statistics Division ICAR'Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Versova, Mumbai - 400 061, India *E-mait: arpitasharma@cife.edu.in AbstractzyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Study was conducted with the objective of assessing and prioritizing training needs of shrimp farmers of Palghar district in Maharashtra. Palghar ranks fitsX in terms of shrimp production and number of shrimp farms. Out of 65 registered shrimp farmers in Palghar district, information was collected from 55 shrimp fanmers. An expert group of 30 comprising of academicians, extension workers, aqua feed industry representatives, government officials and progressive shrimp farmers were asked to locate potential training areas from the ten heads of Best Management Practices (BMPs) and also suggest any other training areas. A total of 40 potential training areas were suggested amongst which 11 were related to BMPs and 29 were outside the framework of BMPs. Importance Weightage (IW) was computed for the training areas and the score ranged from 0 to 1, Training areas which had IW score of 0.5 or more were selected and thus 22 areas were Identified. Using Borich Need Assessment Model, shrimp farmers were asked to rate these 22 training areas on a 5 point Likert scale for their perceived importance and competency. Mean Weighted Discrepancy Score (MWDS) was computed to rank and prioritize the training areas. MWDS was highest for training areas viz, shrimp diseases, symptoms, identification, prevention and management, nursery system and management, feeding management, use of biosecurity measures and farming with biofloc technology and thus were prioritised. Training needs assessment has revealed that farmers prioritized six training areas from specific ten framewori<s of BMPs. In addition, four training areas not in the framework of BMPs were also given high priority. It is concluded that to design any capacity development programme. It Is necessary to do training need assessment with reference to importance and competency and training areas should be accordingly prioritized. Keywords: Training needs. Shrimp farmers, Prioritizing, Need assessment model, Palghar district Among various fish production enterprises, shrimp farming provide gainful employment and steady income to fish farmers. Shrimp aquaculture Is one of the fastest growing forms of aquaculture but has witnessed many ups and downs during 1990 - 2000. Shrimp farming industry was at its peak around 1991 throughout India, but saw its decline mainly due to the White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) disease, However, in 2008, Government of India permitted use of Specific Pathogen Free (SPF) stock of Litopenaeus vannamei for culture. This resulted in revival of shrimp farming along the coast of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra as well as other states. Maharashtra state has about 52,001 ha of potential brackish water area all along its coastline and adjacent creeks. Out of this area, 10,400 ha is reported to be suitable for shrimp farming as per the survey conducted by Government of Maharashtra in 2008. However, only 1356 ha is used for shrimp farming as perMPEDA(2016) and 9044 ha area is left which can be utilized for shrimp farming. Per hectare shrimp productivity of Maharashtra is 4.51 MT/ha/year, whereas national average is 6.87 MT/ha/year. With a gap of 2.36MT/ha/year there is of improvement in the five coastal districts i.e., Palghar, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg. Amongst these districts, Palghar ranks first in shrimp farming area and total shrimp production. Here the total area under shrimp farming is 733 ha and shrimp production Is 2710 tons. However, per hectare shrimp production in Palghar district is 3.69 tons/ha which is less that the state average of 4.73 tons/ha. Ratnagiri district has highest per hectare shrimp production of 6.56 MT/ha/year DoF (2016). It is clear that Palghar district has relatively less average and thus there are gaps which need to be addressed. In a study by Gawde et ai (2006) done in Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts, it has been reported that lack of awareness being one of the main reasons for non-adoption of certain good management practices by shrimp farmers for which training is needed. Studies performed In east and west coasts of India by Kumaran et al (2017) have also reported that there is a need for trained shrimp farmers regarding the Best Management Practices (BMPs) to achieve sustainable production. From the study done by Basavakumar and Yaliger (2000) in Karnataka it is clear that trainings have helped shrimp farmers to acquire more knowledge on technical aspects and has resulted in achieving higher