The present study was taken up to carry out the critical analysis and marketing efficiency of freshwater fish culture in Manipur during the period 2019-20. The study was undertaken with the objectives of documenting the socio-economic profile of the fish farmers and the constraints in the fish culture activity in Manipur. Based on the envisaged research objectives, the study was undertaken in three districts viz., Ukhrul, Imphal West and Bishnupur, where the fish culture activity and Phumdi fish farming were predominant. A total of 90 freshwater fish farmers were interviewed personally by using a pre-tested interview schedule as per the research objectives and documented the first-hand information. Tools of analyses include tabular, percentage and constraints analyses and the collected data were statistically tested in SPSS software.
The results revealed that freshwater fish culture activity was highly dominated by males (96.7%) with an average farming experience of 12 years. Community-wise, 70 per cent of the fish farmers belonged to SC and ST category and among the surveyed respondents, fishery was found to be the primary occupation for 88.9 per cent of the fish farmers, followed by other occupations (8.9%) and Agriculture (2.2%). The income distribution pattern clearly showed that 96.7 per cent of the fish farmers were realizing the income of above ? 80,000/-through the primary occupation. The general characteristics of the surveyed fish farms revealed that all the fish farmers (100%) were undertaking their fish culture activity during summer following semi-intensive farming practice in an area up to 2 ha. The constraints faced by the fish farmers were also identified and ranked using Garrett ranking technique. Among the identified production, resource, marketing, social and extension constraints, absence of technically skilled personnel (63.93), lack of government support (62.63), low farm gate price for fish (49.80), inappropriate use of available resources (53.91) and lack of knowledge in fish culture (58.47), respectively were reported as the most significant constraints by the surveyed fish farmers in Manipur state. Based on the output of the study, certain suggestions for the development of freshwater fish culture activity in Manipur state were drawn and discussed.