An economic analysis of carp culture production cost in Iran

Although carp is still widely sold and used in its fresh form, a range of value additions may also be observed. It is essential to know the development and management of a carp farm production costs and their evolution. In Iran, warm-water fish farming is based on common, silver, grass, and bighead carps. The carp is easy to rise in hatcheries in very large numbers at little cost, and is distributed to farmers to grow out in cultivation ponds. The common carp and the three Chinese species are often reared in polyculture. Since, the 1970S carp farming has spread around the Caspian coasts, and farmed production reached a peak in 2001 with production of more than 28,500 tonnes. The characteristics of the carp farming industry in the three main fish farming provinces of Iran, Guilan, Mazandran and Khuzestan are quite different. A study of production, costs and profitability was carried out to help clarifying carp production costs and their differences with location and farm size. Over the years 1996-97, a total number of 153 farms from the three main provinces were randomly selected, classified and studied. The results of the survey showed that the various producer provinces have different cost structures. Overall, feed and fertiliser with the highest level of variation accounted for 45% of total costs (60% of variable costs). On average, benefit-cost ratio and the rate of farmer income were closely related to location. This result suggests that farmers practice more efficiently and have better conditions in Guilan, resulting in higher farm income per ha and per kg, followed by Mazandran and Khuzestan.