International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR) ISSN (Online): 2319-7064 Index Copernicus Value (2013): 6.14 | Impact Factor (2015): 6.391 Volume 5 Issue 7, July 2016 www.ijsr.net Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY Price Increment Analysis of Some Small Indigenous Freshwater Fish Species (SIFFS) In Coastal Belts of Odisha Using Laspeyres Price Index Nirmal Chandra Biswal 1 , Binod Bihari Sahu 2 , Prafulla Kumar Mohanty 3 1, 3 Department of Zoology, Utkal University, Vani Vihar, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India 2 Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India Abstract: There has been dramatic increment of prices of different Small Indigenous Freshwater Fish Species (SIFFS) in different Coastal districts of Odisha in past years. The price curve climbs much stiffer than expected. Laspeyres price index(LPI) was used to calculate price increment and hence inflation rate for the year 2008 and 2016. It is demarcated that the inflation is rising dramatically in past seventeen years from 1999 to 2016. The base year taken for reference as 1999. Laspeyres price index in the year 2008 is 226.23% and in the year 2016 is 560.65% with an increase of inflation rate of 334.42%. It indicates an increasing trend of rate of inflation year after year. Keywords: Laspeyres price index, SIFFS, Price, Inflation 1. Introduction Earliest human civilization was rooted near the natural water bodies due to direct access to the water so called „soul of life‟. Fish is the pioneer species of the most precious aquatic resources. Which occupies a significant position in the diet of human civilization since ancient times due to its taste, availability, abundance, accessibility, economy, nutritional enrichment and medicinal values. Many fish species has got specialized status in “gourmet par excellence”(Lad, 2014).In India fish is included in the category of staple foods along with rice( Lad et al.,2013). Among the wide varieties of fishes consumed by human population, Small Indigenous Fresh water Fish species(SIFFS) are gaining considerable significance in the platter of rural, semi urban and urban population. Once considered as trash fish by a large community is now gaining consumer acceptance as a front liner due to its nutrient density and health related significance. The consumer demand is scaling high as they are eaten as whole with bone, Head, Viscera and hence the richest source of protein as well as large numbers of micronutrient including Zinc, Calcium, Vitamins, Iron (Roos et al., 2002) and highly effective in preventing child blindness and infant mortality and also nourishing diet for pregnant women (Roos et al.,2007). Small fishes plays a very significant role in the life of rural poor in coastal Odisha as small fishes not only satisfies the palatability and nutrient security but also provides seasonal income and hence a key naturally available resource for providing socio - economic benefits. Small fishes inhabiting ponds, pools, ditches, beels, low land areas and rice fields play a central role in boosting the livelihood of rural poor in the state (http://www. downtoearth.org.in/ coverage/small- fish-big-net-40438). So SIFFs provide a considerable return without investment. Although the production of SIFFS from natural resource base was higher in earlier times but consumers were few and consumption is mostly limited to traditionally rural fish eating population as a mode of direct food security. But rising consumer demand and alteration in the supply chain resulted in large scale cost increment in past years. The quanta of any food prices are related its abundance, consumer demand and overall acceptance or nutritional values. But price increment of the fishes in the current trend is very high due to many fold increase in the prices in each level starting from fishermen level to reach at the ultimate consumer level after passing through a long chain of wholesalers and retailers (Sathiadhas et al., 1994). It is viewed that there is a cost enhancement at every stage i.e. transport, on site loading unloading etc. (Bishnoi 2005). The functional role of intermediaries such as Commission agents, Hawkers and Traders is not documented properly or studied and their multi faceted role across the boundary is not analyzed scientifically. Finally, Fish trading is quite unplanned and non technical in India (Ganesh Kumar et al.,2008). Inland fish prices increased by 5% during 2015- 16(ASSOCHAM, 2015) and there is an increase of fish prices by about 131% in five years between 2008-09 to 2012-13(ASSOCHAM, 2013) and the main contributing factors are urbanization, rising per capita income, growing appetite for the consumption or changing eating pattern, and quantum scale depletion or resource and also overexploitation. Estimation further clarifies a rise of index value from 126 to 291 between same period due to pollution induced declination in fish catch and other contributing factors such as dumping of plastic and other toxic materials, post harvest losses, rise in transportation cost etc. This is further clarified by the declination in growth of fish production from 7% in 2008-09 to just 3.5% in 2012- 13(ASSOCHAM 2013, http://www.orissadiary.com ). Fresh water habitat further degraded by rampant use of fertilizers and pesticides killing aquatic fauna including fishes (Halwart 2008). Paper ID: ART2016652 2028