Freshwater bagda shrimp: a Tk 5 lakh loss in 2022 when the aerator failed, then 80 maund from one acre

In Hasanpur village of Dumuria upazila, Khulna, the Hamkura river that once flowed through the village had dried up, so a 46-year-old farmer could no longer bring saline water into his pond. In 2019 he released 2,000 bagda fry with galda in a freshwater pond, after first acclimatising the fry for 15-20 days in controlled saline water. That year he got only 150-200 shrimp. The next year 20,000 fry gave 8,000-9,000 shrimp after four months. In 2021 he released 50,000 fry and about 32,000 survived. In 2022 his first crop from 50,000 fry gave 27 maund, but a second crop of 2.5 lakh fry died when the aerator broke down, costing him about Tk 5 lakh. In 2023 he released 80,000 fry in a one-acre pond and got about 80 maund of bagda: roughly 32 kg per decimal, an average weight of about 50 g in 120 days, and a profit nearly twice his costs. On fisheries officers' advice he added rui and catla to eat the harmful green plankton that builds up. He feeds three times a day, two with salt-mixed feed. On harvest day 55 maund were taken out with about 50 workers. He plans to move to galda and fish, then rice. Officers measured the salinity at zero ppt. The report gives no figure for total costs.