Productivity and efficiency analysis of cultured shrimp production in Asia

This study analyzed the productivity, production technology, and technical efficiency of cultured shrimp production in Asia using data from Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific.;Based on the farm-level information, partial productivity ratios and dual cost total factor productivities (TFP) were computed for 1201 extensive, 751 semi-intensive, and 606 intensive farms in eleven Asian countries producing black tiger shrimp. The inter-country comparison based upon TFP scores revealed that extensive systems in Indonesia, semi-intensive systems in India and Malaysia, and intensive systems in Malaysia and Sri Lanka were more productive than regional averages. Meanwhile, extensive systems in Myanmar and Vietnam and intensive systems in Cambodia and Indonesia were found to be least productive. Several important factors contributing to differences in productivity were identified.;Stochastic frontier analysis was used to estimate production technology and technical efficiency of individual countries and the region in 755 extensive, 671 semi-intensive, and 469 intensive farms in nine Asian countries. Feed was found to be critical in most cases while majority of the individual frontiers and all the regional frontiers exhibited decreasing returns to scale.;The regional mean technical efficiencies for extensive, semi-intensive, and intensive systems were 49%, 60%, and 57%. On average, extensive farms can increase per hectare annual earnings by ;Extensive systems in India, semi-intensive systems in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka, and intensive systems in Malaysia, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka were found to be efficient with respect to own frontiers. But, these countries had a greater potential of improving efficiency when they were evaluated with respect to the regional frontier. Though there were no consistent determinants of technical efficiency, several farm-specific variables were found to be strong candidates in improving technical efficiency of farms in the region. Since the study concentrated on sources and differences of productivity and efficiency of resource use, the results have important implications on sustainability of the shrimp industry in the region.