Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the economic feasibility of the Integrated Aquaponics Systems (IAS) of high-value species such as tilapia and shrimp in comparison with the normal farming and aquaculture systems. The approach to it was a detailed cost-benefit analysis (CBA), which included the data on infrastructure, costs of operations, yield rates, and market prices. A sensitivity analysis was also incorporated in the analysis in order to determine the effects of variations in the most important variables on the financial performance of IAS, and these variables include fish yield and market demand. The findings showed that IAS registered the highest ROI of 120, and this was far better than the 66.7% ROI in conventional farming and 87.5% ROI in aquaculture systems. The payback period of IAS took the least time of 2.5 years compared to 3 years of farming and 2.7 years of aquaculture. The sensitivity analysis showed that the most important variables in profitability were fish yield and market prices, and a 10% change in the former brought about significant changes in revenue. Although it had a higher initial capital requirement, IAS was more resource-efficient because it was showing long-term sustainability and profitability. To sum up, IAS showed better economic results compared to traditional systems, which outlines its ability to be a sustainable and profitable farming system. The future development of IAS should be dedicated to increasing its scalability through decreasing initial expenses, optimizing system components, and searching for technological evolution that would be able to enhance the financial results under different market conditions. The issue of the effects of regulatory frameworks on the popularity of IAS should also be examined further.

Keywords: Aquaponics, Cost-benefit analysis, Integrated aquaponics systems, Sustainability, High-value species, Economic feasibility, Resource efficiency