Indian aquaculture output up 30%

 

 

India's aquaculture production increased by more than 30% during the last financial year largely due to increased output in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

 

According to the Marine Exports Product Development Authority (MPEDA) officials, during 2009-10, total production touched 106,000 tonnes and exports were also on the higher side.

 

Production and exports of aquaculture products are likely to get a boost in the current fiscal with coastal farms are starting white shrimp (vannamei) production in 1,170 hectares, Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) national president Anwar Hashim said.

 

Production of coastal aquaculture came down during 2008-09 at 88,803 tonnes with an estimated value of Rs1,915 crore, MPEDA said. Shrimp production from coastal aquaculture was 75,997 tonnes from the culture area of 108,000 hectares. Compared to the previous year, the decrease was about 28.4% in production and 10.9% in area.

 

Production of freshwater prawn (scampi) during the year was 12,806 tonnes from an area of 1,644 hectares, showing a reduction of 53% in production and 63% in area utilisation. The decline in production from aquaculture was attributed to the global economic crisis, which resulted in reduction of international price for seafood products in general and shrimp in particular.

 

Competition from cheaper vanammei is severely affecting the profitability and production of the Indian black tiger shrimps, MPEDA sources said.

 

India produces mainly black tiger shrimp and processing facilities are running at only about 30% of their capacity. Export rivals in Asia, such as Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia, have already introduced this variety and have seen their production rising. Black tiger shrimps have higher production costs and lower yields than vannamei. According to SEAI sources, the cost of production of vannamei is US$2.29 per kilogramme, which is only half the production cost for the Indian species.

 

Farmers can produce 20 tonnes of small-to-medium vannamei per hectare, but only 2-3 tonnes of large monodon per hectare. With shrimp diseases still ravaging black tiger farms, the survival rate of shrimp in most of farms is about 40%. The price of this farmed variety is at least 15% higher than vannamei in the global market. Vannamei's survival rate is close to 95-98% compared to the black tigers' 40%.

 

"We should be producing nearly 20,000 tonnes of vanammei in the current fiscal as per the latest reports. This could help us stay competitive in the global market," Hashim said, adding that the global market is extremely sensitive with good competition from other South Asian countries which have lesser production costs.

 

Indian aquaculture has demonstrated a six-and-a-half-fold growth over the last two decades, with freshwater aquaculture contributing over 95% of the total production.

 

The country utilises only about 40% of the available 2.36 million hectares of ponds and tanks for freshwater aquaculture and 13% of a total potential brackish water resource of 1.2 million hectares.