Selection of intensive shrimp farming technology for small farmers with analytical hierarchy process: a case for whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei)

Whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) is one of the important aquaculture commodities. This is due to high demand and farming with high stock densities. However, whiteleg shrimp farming is generally large scale, so that farmers with small capital cannot carry out business activities. In this paper, an intensive assessment of four whiteleg shrimp technologies has been carried out with seven criteria. Four intensive shrimp farming technologies are biofloc technology, supra intensive, shrimp farming in mini scale with tarpaulin (BUSMETIK), and Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS). Seven criteria that used in the assessment are affordability of capital and operational costs on a mini scale, minimum land area for shrimp farming, dependence on the location of raw water sources, environmental friendly, productivity, energy consumption, and biosecurity. The assessment was carried out using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method to assess the compatibility of different technologies to low investment. The results of the AHP method show that RAS is ranked first for intensive shrimp farming technology for small farmers. Then followed by supra intensive, BUSMETIK and biofloc technology. Most of the criteria used in the AHP calculation are the advantages that RAS is very suitable for small farmers.