Problem Confronted by the Fish Farmers in Practicing Semi-intensive Climbing Perch (Anabus testubineus) Farming

Climbing Perch is one of the most important aquaculture fish species for its production and popularity among the people in Bangladesh. The study was conducted to identify and describe the problem confronted by the fish farmers regarding practice of semi-intensive climbing perch farming; to describe the selected characteristics of the fish farmers; and to explore the relationships of the selected characteristics of the fish farmers with their problem confrontation. Data were collected from 105 farmers from Mymensingh district in Bangladesh during the period of March to April, 2011. Personal interview method was used to collect data from the farmers. To measure each of the items in rank order, Problem Confrontation Index (PCI) was developed. Among the twenty selected problems “Lack of marketing facilities” got the highest PCI (290) where “Social or political problems” got lowest PCI (2). The findings indicate that the highest proportion of the fish farmers (56%) confronted moderate level of problem in practicing semi-intensive climbing perch farming, while, 31% and 13% of them confronted high and low level of problem, respectively. Correlation analysis indicates that among selected characteristics of the fish farmers such as, age, educational level, annual income, fish farming experience, communication exposure, training exposure and knowledge on climbing perch farming had significant negative relationship with their problem confrontation. Thus, it can be concluded that the fish farmers confronted significant problems in practicing semi-intensive climbing perch farming. Department of Fisheries (DoF), the sole government extension services provider to fish farmers and other non-government organizations work for increasing fish production should take necessary steps to address those issues for minimizing farmer’s problems.