**4. Conclusion**

Demand for prawn is very important. Hence, prawn farm should be sited where there is high demand for the product. Quality of prawn deteriorates with time after harvest, and so it requires a prompt and ready market. Therefore, the proximity of

Total area 665,347.31 100

**No. Infrastructure layer Area (Ha) Percentage** Most suitable 496,198.75 75 Moderate suitable 105,414.82 16 Not suitable 63,733.73 10

*Emerging Technologies, Environment and Research for Sustainable Aquaculture*

Source of fries to the farm is also very important to the establishment of the farm. Fry mortality increases with long-distance travel as they are susceptible to bad environmental condition; therefore, it is advisable that hatcheries be located nearer the farm. It was discovered from the study that most hatcheries as sources of fries were located some kilometres far away from the study area such as Perak and Kedah where the farmers must travel to purchase fries which takes about 3–4 h to reach and another 3–4 h to come back, which was considered not appropriate for prawn farming. This increases the mortality rate of the fries (juvenile) and cost of production in terms of transportation. According to New [20], prawn farms should be located close to a hatchery because the mortality of the fry increases with longdistance travel to obtain it. From the study, it was found that only a few hatcheries

The southwestern area of Negeri Sembilan is better equipped in terms of the infrastructural facilities. The most suitable area was basically regions along the major roads linking Negeri Sembilan and Selangor state as one move to the Kuala Lumpur, Seremban the state capital region, and the major towns. Electrification exists almost beside the roads which are significant to prawn farming. The unsuitable areas are in the northern parts with pockets of most suitable around Jelebu. The infrastructure facilities result shown in **Table 3** indicates that 75%

(105,414.82 ha) as moderately suitable, and 10% (63,733.73 ha) as not suitable. This confirmed the study conducted by Olaniyi et al. [21] that good infrastructure

The market potential was based on the distance of the farm to the settlements and the population density of an area. The Negeri Sembilan region was largely good in terms of market potential due to the population density of 159 persons per km<sup>2</sup> with high demand for prawn in the region. Seremban District with the highest population density of 586 persons per km<sup>2</sup> was the most suitable market

, and Jelebu with 29 persons per km<sup>2</sup> [22]. The relative location of the area near Kuala Lumpur, the Federal capital territory, also provides the area with good market potential as prawns were sold to the restaurant for local consumption. The farms were located relatively near the market areas. The Seremban District with the population of about 555,935 (2012 census) with the land area 397,185 km and Port Dickson provide the most suitable area [22]. The rest of the districts were moderately suitable with pockets of the most suitable area. The extreme north of Jelebu District with less population was considered not suitable for a market

, Tampin with 99 persons per

, Kuala Pilah with 64 persons per

(496,198.75 ha) of the area for prawn farming are most suitable, 16%

determines the productivity of prawn of an area.

potential, Port Dickson with 191 persons per km<sup>2</sup>

, Jempol District with 79 persons per km<sup>2</sup>

km<sup>2</sup>

km<sup>2</sup>

potential.

**98**

farm to the market is very important.

*Infrastructure criteria suitable area for prawn farming.*

**Table 3.**

were established in the study area.

The study integrates the GIS and AHP methods to evaluate the infrastructure facility of an area and its suitability for prawn farming. The approaches were able to identify areas with appropriate infrastructures for the sustainable development of prawn farming in Negeri Sembilan. The factor layers considered included distance to road, distance to market, distance to electricity, and distance to fry source.

From the result of the analysis, infrastructure facilities have been identified as major factors that have great influence on prawn farming. This confirms the study by Hossain and Das [1] who identified transportation facilities, electricity, market, and availability of hatcheries as some infrastructure facilities having significant influence on prawn farming.

The infrastructure facilities suitability map generated will be useful to farmers, stakeholders, policy-makers and decision-makers to improve the efficiency of land use by selecting which site is appropriate to farm prawn. They will lead to increased yield and the optimal utilisation of the available land resources. This can reduce the overall cost of production and conflicts among land users. Infrastructural facility developments in the area such as establishment of hatcheries, rural road construction, and electric power supply to facilitate prawn farming are recommended.
