December 2, 2010

India cultivates shrimp to encourage more exports

The production of newly cultivated Vannamei (white shrimp) in India will reach 30,000 tonnes this financial year, in order to increase shrimp exports, said Leena Nair, chairperson of the marine Products Export Development Authority (Mpeda).

India started Vannamei cultivation on commercial basis last year and the total area under cultivation increased to 2,000 hectares presently. It is mainly cultivated in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.

Nair said this would push up marine products export from India and the total export in this financial year would exceed the targeted INR2.5 billion (US$55.2 million). In the first half of 2010, export crossed INR$1 billion (US$22.1 million), up 23% against the exports in the same period last year.

The farming of Vannamei species is promising as India can produce large variety of shrimps as compared to the traditional producers from Thailand, Indonesia, Ecuador, and Vietnam. The lower price tag of the new species, INR10-INR12 (US$0.22-US$0.27) per kilogramme in the global market compared to the traditional Indian grades like black Tiger at INR14 (US$0.31) per kilogramme, is advantageous on the export front especially to the EU, US, and Japan. The drop in production in Vietnam and Ecuador gives India an advantage, she said. Production of Vannamei in Vietnam declined from 160,000 tonnes to 40,000 tonnes in 2006.

She added that the US market is now promising to India because the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico had caused a serious shortage for seafood items in the US market. Thus, exports to the US increased in recent months which had been declining considerably for the last five years. Exports to the US market dipped in the past due to the heavy anti-dumping duty imposed in February 2005.