~ 103 ~ International Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Studies 2014; 1(4):103-107 ISSN: 2347-5129 IJFAS 2014; 1(4):103-107 © 2013 IJFAS www.fisheriesjournal.com Received: 13-02-2014 Accepted: 17-02-2014 Vikash Kumar Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI), Barrackpore- 700120 Tel: +91-8879017088 Suvra Roy Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI), Barrackpore- 700120 Tel: +91-8879017087 Debtanu Barman Center for Aquaculture Research & Development (CARD), St. Xavier’s Vocational Training Center, Don Bosco, Bishramganj, Tripura, India. 799103 Tel: +91-8794811213 Devanand Uchoi Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai, India, 400061 Tel: +91-9167451679 Correspondence: Vikash Kumar Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI), Barrackpore- 700120, India Tel: +91-8879017088 A Case Study: Fish seed nursing by farmers of Udaipur, South Tripura, India Vikash Kumar, Suvra Roy, Debtanu Barman, Devanand Uchoi ABSTRACT Seed nursing is a useful and economically viable practice through which fish farmers are able to make adequate amount of profit in very short period of time. In Tripura many fish farmer livelihood is dependent on seed nursing and its marketing and they get a good amount of profit out of that. The study was performed for a period of 6 months to understand and highlight the seed nursing practices whether a profitable venture or not. After 60 days of seed rearing period farmers are getting around 2-3 lakhs of fish seed from 4 lakhs of spawn with a survival rate of more than 50%. Farmers gets around 75- 80 thousand Rupees as gross income from the selling of fish seed and they are making a profit of 45-50 thousand Rupees from each seed nursing cycle after excluding all the expenses incurred in the form of buying fish spawn, feeds, netting materials, harvesting cost etc. As seed nursing don’t require large water bodies it can be a better option for small fish farmers who are having small water holdings. Farmers can do three to four harvesting in a single year so from a limited space of water body they can earn more money in a very short period of time. Seed nursing can ultimately solve the problem of seed availability in market and leads to increase the overall fish production. Keywords: Seed nursing, Harvesting, Biodiversity 1. Introduction Aquaculture is fast developing in most of the northeastern states owing to high demand for fish in the region. This growth is not uniform in all the NE states because of the differing food habits of the people, though all states have excellent potential for aquaculture. Among the states in the region, Assam, Manipur and Tripura have large percentage of population as well as fish eating people. It is important to recognise that the literacy rate in most of the NE states is high as compared to the rest of the country and in particular those states wherein fish is not a commonly consumed item, the literacy rate is very high. With the increasing research evidence that demonstrate the health benefits of eating fish and also the ill effects of eating red meat, it is likely that the literate people in rest of the NE states will also gradually increase intake of fish (Buttner et al. [1] ) Seed nursing is a very useful and economic venture, farmers are able to make adequate amount of profit in very short period of time, that’s way seed nursing activity is gaining attention in many fish farmers (FAO [2] ). Fish farmer of Udaipur (South Tripura, India) have been studied to know more about their seed nursing and marketing of the fish seed. In this case study we have try to highlight that how the seed nursing is a profitable venture. In Tripura so many farmers are involved in this occupation and their livelihood is fully dependent on seed nursing and marketing and they are making a good amount of profit also. 2. Socio-economic status of farmers A survey format was designed and used to gather information from fish farmers in Tripura. The average age was 46.5 years with all of them having a family with 6.25 members. All the farmers were educated with most of them having education up to higher secondary level, except one farmer who had degree level education. Nine farmers were having agriculture as the primary occupation and two of them were in Government service and one farmer indicated aquaculture as his primary occupation.