ADVERSE EFFECT OF FLOOD ON FISH PRODUCTION AS PERCEIVED BY THE FARMERS OF GANGACHARA UPAZILA UNDER RANGPUR DISTRICT

Abstract

Bangladesh is frequently cited as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change specially to flood. Every year flood affects the farmers of Bangladesh in agriculture and fisheries sectors and causes a huge economic loss. The purpose of the study was to ascertain the adverse effect of flood on fish production as perceived by the farmers and to explore the relationship between the selected characteristics of the fish farmers and their perceived adverse effect on fish production. The study was conducted at three (3) selected unions (Gajghanta, Morneya and Barabil) of Gangachara Upazilla which known as severe flood prone areas under Rangpur District. The data were collected from 103 flood affected fish farmers who were proportionately and randomly selected as the sample from the three (3) selected unions. The researcher himself collected data by personal contact with the flood affected fish farmers through a well structured interview schedule during the period from 16 july to 07 August, 2022. The study explored that majority (59.2%) proportion of the fish farmers perceived medium adverse effect of flood, while 40.8% perceived high adverse effect of flood on fish production. On the basis of Standardized Adverse Effectiveness Index (SAEI), it was observed that ‘outbreak of fish diseases due to flood’ ranked 1st followed by ‘destruction of pond/hatchery dike’, ‘unavailability of fair price’, ‘unavailability of transportation facilities’, ‘pollution of pond/hatchery water’, ‘unavailability of Labour’, ‘invasion and Penetration of undesirable species due to flood’, ‘unavailability of storage facilities’, ‘unavailability of inputs’, ‘unavailability of eggs, larva, fry, fingerling etc.’, ‘unavailability of marketing facilities’, ‘unavailability of necessary chemicals’ and ‘unavailability of weather information’. Pearson's Product Moment Correlation coefficient (r) was computed to determine the relationships between the selected characteristics of the fish farmers and their perceived adverse effect on fish production. The result showed that age, education, fish farming experience, training received in fish farming, fish farm size, and extension media contact of the farmers had negative significant relationships with their perceived adverse effect of flood on fish production. On the basis of the findings it may be concluded that reducing adverse effect of flood is very essential to regularize fish production during flooding time. Emphasis should be given to reduce higher order of adverse effects of flood on fish production.