Success Stories In Asian Aquaculture - Library - Network of ...

38 M. Weiminenvironmental issues, significant improvement to environmental quality is a ratherslow process. Good quality water supply can be a key constraint to further developmentof rice–fish culture in certain areas of the country as ecosystem of rice–fishculture is more dependent on the supply of good quality water. Concerted efforts are,therefore, needed to restore and improve environmental quality.(c) Improvement of the Public Service for the Small FarmersRice–fish farming involves large number of small scale farmers. Traditional ricefarmers often have limited knowledge about rice–fish culture. Strong technical supportservices are, therefore, required for further expansion of rice–fish culture andupgrading of present practices. In the restructuring of local government and publicservice institutions, less number of technical staff supported by local government ismaintained at grass-root level resulting in high workloads of such personnel. Assuch, the extension mechanisms are still rather inefficient in upgrading and scalingup rice–fish culture production.On the other hand, economic return to farmers from rice–fish production is highlydependent on market changes. Small scale rice–fish farmers have poor access toreliable timely market information, which often results in difficulty to market theproducts at reasonable market prices and profit margins. In a market-oriented economicsystem, predicting market trends and guiding rice–fish farmers based on thesepredictions are other challenges to the public service institutions.It is, therefore, time to establish public market study and information distributionsystems for small-scale farmers. Promotion of farmers’ associations at differentlevels is apparently an effective approach to assist individual farmers in addressingmarketing problems. Government facilitation and sharing of successful experiencesacross the regions and sectors are very important.(d) Leading Rice–fish Farmers Towards Ecosystem PracticesEnvironmentally friendly ecosystem rice–fish culture practices have not beenwidely adopted among rice–fish farmers due to the limited knowledge and managementskills of the majority of rice–fish farmers. Some farmers are more influencedby short-term benefits. Empowerment of farmers with required knowledge andskills for shifting from traditional rice–fish practices to more ecosystem rice–fishculture is a major challenge.It is very important to establish a conducive climate for socially and environmentallyholistic development approach through public advocacy. In addition to demonstrationof good practices of rice–fish culture and sharing of successful lessonsamong farmers and across regions, market forces should be used to drive small scalerice–fish and rice farmers towards better practices of ecosystem rice–fish culturepractices. The production of organic rice and fish should be encouraged in rice–fishsystems, which would add economic value to the system and also raise farmerincome (Lu and Li 2006) . A scheme of certification and eco-labeling for green and