Management Practices Followed by the Farmers in Semi-intensive Koi (Climbing perch) Farming

The purpose of the study was to determine the extent of semi-intensive management practices followed by the farmers in koi farming and to explore the relationships between selected characteristics of the farmers and their extent of management practices. Data were collected from 105 randomly selected koi farmers (out of 419 farmers) from Kheruajani union of Muktagachha upazila under Mymensingh district during March to April, 2011. Management practices followed by the farmers was measured by developing 19 management practices and each of the management practices was put against a four-point rating scale such as not at all practiced, rarely practiced, occasionally practiced and frequently practiced and the corresponding scores were given as 0, 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The findings indicate that the about half of the respondents (49 percent) had medium level of management practices followed by 30 percent having high level of management practices. Based on management practice index ‘applying supplementary feed twice a day’, ‘checking growth of fish regularly by sampling’, ‘regular checking of fish diseases by sampling’, and ‘applying formulated commercial diet’ were the top three aspects, respectively. Out of ten selected characteristics of koi farmers, their educational level, farm size, annual income, fish farming experience, communication exposure, training exposure, social mobility, and knowledge about koi farming showed significant positive relationships with management practices followed by them.