An Assessment of Economic Viability of Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone, 1931) Culture with Different Stocking Density in Earthern Pond during Monsoon Season along Saurashtra Region of Gujarat Coast, India

The best use of coastal potential waste land for shrimp farming has brought prosperity to the coastal community of Rajula taluka in Amreli district. Shrimp farming in India has grown dramatically over the last three decades, particularly in coastal states. The economic assessment of a shrimp farming experiment was carried out in a commercial pond at Kavya Aqua Farm (Rajula) in the Saurashtra region, which is a peninsular and southernmost part of Gujarat covering 793 hector area under shrimp farming with higher input costs in the Litopenaeus vannamei farming business. This case study showed that aquaculture is a risky industry, but farmers still view it as a lucrative and high-status business. 25 shrimp producers participated in a primary survey that involved structured interviews in order to gather information about the following characteristics: social profile, fixed costs, variable costs, production yield, gross income, and net income. At higher stocking rates (80 pc/m2) has yielded better production with high count and FCR (feed conversion ratio). The current finding suggests that lower stocking density (30 pc/m2) and lower count (number of pcs/kg) at harvest were associated with higher economic returns. An evaluation of L. vannamei farming's economic feasibility and the degree of its support to the improvement of their socioeconomic situation has been made. This study will be a huge help in persuading other local farmers to invest in shrimp farming in order to improve their standard of living. The current shrimp farming experiment with various stocking densities along with survey study revealed that L. vannamei farming can be made profitable for small and marginal farmers by adopting lower affordable stocking rates and shrimp farming significantly contributes to the creation of employment and infrastructure development of the coastal community and overall growth of the coastal areas.