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What went wrongA young shrimp farmer in Bagerhat, in a Dhaka Post report · Started in 2017

Profit in year one, then three straight years of loss

He started shrimp farming on 60 decimals in 2017 while still studying. The first year made a profit, which went straight into a second gher; fish prices then fell, feed prices rose, and three straight years of losses followed.

This young man from Jatrapur in Bagerhat Sadar began farming shrimp and white fish on 60 decimals of land in 2017, alongside his studies. The first year made a profit, and he put that money straight into stocking a second gher beside the house. From the following year fish prices fell while feed prices kept rising, and the margin turned into a loss. After three consecutive losing years he describes himself as destitute, and he now supports his family by giving private tuition. The same report recorded 78,685 bagda and golda ghers over 66,713 hectares in the district, with output down from 64,000 tonnes in FY2007-08 to 33,500 tonnes in FY2019-20 and many farmers leaving shrimp altogether.

Lessons

  1. 1.Doubling down after one good year, before you have seen a bad price cycle, is how a small gher becomes an unrecoverable loss
  2. 2.Watch the gap between feed price and fish price, not the harvest: the farming worked here and the margin still collapsed

Published with the person's permission, without revealing who they are.

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