The success of any nursery facility or grow-out farm depends on its access to good markets for its output. Its products may be sold to other farms (in the case of nurseries), directly to the public, to local markets and catering facilities, or to processors or exporters.
The needs and potential of each type of market need to be considered. For example, more income may result if you can sell your market-sized prawns alive.
The scale, nature and locality of the market is the first topic that you should consider and the results of your evaluation will determine whether the site is satisfactory and, if so, the way in which the farm should be designed and operated.
Despite the obvious importance of the market, it is surprising how often that this topic is the last criterion to be investigated. It is considered in more detail later in this manual.
- It also important to consider other factors to ensure success, including the:
- suitability of the climatic conditions;
- suitability of the topography;
- availability of adequate supplies of good quality water;
- availability of suitable soil for pond construction;
- maximum protection from agricultural and industrial pollution;
- availability of adequate physical access to the site for the provision of supplies and the movement of harvested animals;
- availability of supplies of other necessary inputs, including postlarval and/or juvenile prawns, equipment, aquafeeds or feed ingredients, and power supplies;
- availability of good skilled (managerial) and unskilled labour;
- presence of favourable legislation; and
- availability of adequate investment.
These topics have been discussed in detail in many FAO and other publications, including FAO (1981, 1988, 1989b 1995) and Muir and Lombardi (2000). This section of the manual concentrates on those factors which are particularly important or specific to freshwater prawn farming.
Author:
Michael B. New
