February 5, 2007

 

India emerges as second in world aquaculture production

 

 

India's increasing share of aquaculture production has made it the second largest producer of farmed fish in the world.

 

However, it is still dwarfed by top producer China, whose production is twenty times larger.

 

India's Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) said the country's share in global aquaculture output is 4.2 per cent in volume and value.

 

China, on the other hand, takes up 69.6 percent in production and 51.2 percent in value.

 

Nine of the world's 10 largest aquaculture-producing countries are in Asia, according to the State of the World Aquaculture Report, compiled by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

 

The countries, in descending order of production, are: China, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea, Bangladesh and Chile.

 

India's farmed fish output for 2004 is estimated at 2.47 million tonnes, against China's 41.32 million tonnes.

 

The value of India's total aquaculture output is assessed at US$ 2.93 million, against China's US$ 35.99 million.

 

Indian aquaculture concentrates on cyprinids such as carps, while China's aquaculture sector has much larger diversity.

 

Japan, though ranking way below India in total aquaculture production, has a higher global share of the market in terms of value than India's, at six percent, because of larger output of high-value fish.

 

The total aquaculture production of Japan is put at 1.26 million tonnes.

 

Although Japan's production weight is less than one-third of India's, its value of US$ 2.81 million, is only slightly lower than India's US$ 2.93 million, the report said. 

 

The report also pointed out that aquaculture development has allowed species which were used to be considered luxury items such as salmon and shrimp to become affordable to the masses.