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The Development of Aquaculture in Central Thailand: Domestic Demand versus Export‐Led Production
Author(s) -
BELTON BEN,
LITTLE DAVID
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of agrarian change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.63
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1471-0366
pISSN - 1471-0358
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-0366.2007.00165.x
Subject(s) - aquaculture , diversification (marketing strategy) , agriculture , business , profit (economics) , production (economics) , boom , industrialisation , economics , agricultural economics , natural resource economics , international trade , fishery , geography , market economy , fish <actinopterygii> , environmental science , macroeconomics , archaeology , marketing , environmental engineering , biology , microeconomics
Expansion of aquaculture in Central Thailand since the 1970s is intimately linked to growth in other sectors of the local and national economy, and to participation in global trade. Thailand's agro‐industrialization has led to the diversification of agriculture in the Central Region and the co‐development of aquaculture. Production of domestic aqua‐products is largely positive for consumers, farmers and the environment. By contrast, intensive production of shrimp for export has been characterized by periods of boom and bust resulting from disease outbreaks and international competition. At the farm level this has translated into surges of profit followed by overcapitalization, debt and environmental degradation.