4. SOCIO-ECONOMICS

4.1 Introduction

The vast majority of farmers in India cultivate fewer than 5 ha. The average size of a small farm is 1 ha, and a marginal holding is 0.3 - 0.5 ha. Fish farming, when added to an existing farming system, can increase production and profitability of the small farm. The cost of construction and operation of ponds varies from state to state ranging from as high as Rs 175 000/ha in Punjab to as low as Rs 25 000 - 30 000/ha in Uttar Pradesh. Poverty is not an important limiting factor in the adoption of fish farming. Many other social and technical constraints exist also. For example, the major constraints faced by fish farmers in West Bengal (Table 33) are:

• Plurality of ownership (81 94%);
• Lack of credits (80%);
• Lack of technical know-how (73%);
• Illegal poaching (67%);
• Deliberate poisoning (61%);
• Marketing problems (48%).

Table 33. Constraints faced by the fish farmers (response in percentage) in West Bengal, 1997-98.

Constraints	Small farmers	Medium farmers	Large farmers	Overall
Plurality of ownership	66.67	83.33	95.33	81.94
Lack of credit	83.33	75.00	79.17	79.17
Lack of technical know-how	66.67	79.17	75.00	73.61
Illegal poaching	66.67	70.83	62.50	66.67
Deliberate poisoning	50.00	58.33	75.00	61.11
Marketing problems	45.83	58.33	41.67	48.61

SOURCE: Chakraborty, A. 1997.

Studies have identified the land-tenure systems as a complicating factor in a farmer's decision whether or not to adopt fish culture. Some of the states have implemented legislative reforms in their tenure systems to attract large-scale investment in aquaculture. Karnataka, for example, amended its land reform legislation in 1995. It permitted long-term leasing of land for aquacultural activities and treated aquaculture as an agricultural activity. The purchase of cropland for aquaculture was facilitated by raising the land ceiling to 40 units per person, or 200 units for a typical family of five individuals, equivalent to 427.53 ha per family. These land policy revisions empowered capitalistic farmers to enter into aquaculture and served as a catalyst for the development of aquaculture.

Extension services that are not adequately financed and motivated can reduce efficient transfer of technology. This has been the case in many of the states. For example, agencies responsible for the development of a sector are mainly concerned with implementing regulations and providing subsidies that have little educational value. Research institutes have been trying to implement the transfer of technology through group farming. They have encouraged empowering women by involving them in production-related activities. At present, women participate in aquaculture only in the marketing sector.

4.2 Purchasing power in rural and urban areas

Economists suggest several methods to measure the changes in the degree of economic access to food. One way to measure such changes is to examine the trends in the proportion of per caput income required to buy a unit of food (Tyagi, 1988; 1990). Using retail prices, researchers observed that the average per caput income required to buy a kilogram of rohu in urban areas declined by 50% in 1994-95 and 20% in the case of pomfret, which is a marine fish (Table 34).

Table 34. Average per caput income and retail prices of fish

Year	Per caput income at current prices (Rs)	Average retail prices (Rs/kg)
		Rohu	Pomfret
1986-87	2303	28 (1.22)	20 (0.87)
1990-91	2837	36 (0.72)	30 (0.60)
1993-94	7060	47 (0.67)	44 (0.62)
1994-95	9983	50 (0.61)	50 (0.61)
1996-97	10771	60 (0.55)	62 (0.57)

NOTE: Figures in parenthesis indicate percentage to per caput income

4.3 Aquaculture and employment

Between 1977-78 and 1993-94, India's population rose from 639.1 million to 902.8 million, implying a growth rate of 2.2% per annum, while its labour force grew at a rate of 2.1% per annum from 276.3 million to 385.5 million. During the same period, agriculture's share in total employment fell by 8 percentage points from 69.2% to 61.2%, while its share in GDP fell by 10 percentage points from 40% to 30%. Another striking fact is that the poverty level far exceeds the rate of unemployment. According to official estimates, 36% of the population was poor in 1993-94, when the rate of unemployment was only 2.3%. This large gap between poverty and unemployment levels suggests that many people counted as employed are engaged in activities of very low productivity and low income or may be seriously under-employed. Females constitute less than one-third of the total labour force in India, and their participation in the labour force is about half that for males. Factors related to women's reproductive and household responsibilities act as constraints on their participation. Another negative point is that between 1977-78 and 1993-94, the share of males employed in agriculture declined by more than 8 points from 65.1% in 1977 to 56.9% in 1993-94, while female employment declined by fewer than 5 percentage points from 79.4% in 1977-78 to 74.5% in 1993-94.

Unemployment is a far more serious problem for women than it is for men. In 1993-94, 87.8% of subsidiary workers were women, and the effective rate of unemployment for women was 6.7 times higher than that for men. Thus, women have far fewer employment opportunities than men and this, in itself, is a probable explanation for the lower rate of female participation in the labour force.

Discriminatory practices in the labour market exacerbate the situation for females. Most women are employed as casual labourers, and the overall quality of female employment is very low. Females earn lower wages than males. In 1993-94, the daily wage earned by a female casual labourer in agriculture was 71% of the daily wage earned by her male counterpart. During 1993-94, a male labourer in agriculture earned Rs 20.85, and a female worker received only Rs 14.88.

Some of the reasons for the low participation of women in aquaculture are rooted in their lack of education and technical skills, and most importantly, in general social biases. In some of the communities, women are not permitted to work on aquacultural farms for sanitary reasons.

4.4 Social and environmental issues

During the early 1960s and 1970s, village administrative bodies in many states, such as Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, etc. did not allow stocking village community ponds with fish seed for religious reasons. According to the beliefs of the Arya Samaj movement, harvesting of fish is considered a sin. Later, the Department of Fisheries started linking development grants with permission to stock fish in common village water bodies. In fact, in states such as Haryana, several violent incidents took place to prevent the Fisheries Department from stocking fish in village ponds. Later, local bodies slowly learnt from experience that fish could represent a major source of revenue. Today, many of these local bodies generate an income from lease-rents of Rs 150 000 to 200 000 per year, which has become a substantial part of the total income for villages in recent years.

Table 35. Wastewater discharges (million litre/day) by states in India

States	Wastewater discharged into sea
1. Andhra Pradesh	2466
2. Gujarat	566
3. Tamil Nadu	378
4. Kerala	151
5. Maharastra	80
6. Karnataka	43
7. West Bengal	22

SOURCE: CSO, 1997.