Is super-intensive shrimp farming more environmentally friendly? an application of material balance principle in the Mekong Delta

Super-intensive shrimp farming area has been increasing rapidly in the Mekong Delta due to its high expected profit. However, such production practice raises an emerging concern of environmental aspects. Thus, the current study aims at measuring and comparing the environmental or nutrient efficiency among 230 semi-intensive, intensive and super-intensive white shrimp ( Litopenaeus vannamei) farmers. To measure the environmental efficiency, the study applied material balance principle and data envelopment analysis. On average, the environmental efficiency of white shrimp farmers was 19.52%, suggesting that the shrimp farmers produce a nutrient surplus of 1216 kg/ha to the aquatic environment. The intensive farming produces the highest amount of nutrient surplus. The study also found that the environmental efficiency of super-intensive shrimp farming is 40%, which is significantly higher than that of the semi-intensive and intensive shrimp farming practices at 23.27% and 17.08%, respectively. The study also offers some policy implications for improving the technical, allocative and environmental efficiencies of white shrimp farming in the Mekong Delta.