May 2, 2023

 

Indian aquaculture: Capturing strategic opportunities key to industry's sustainable progress

 

 

With a share of 11.7 %, India is ranked second in global aquaculture production.

 

The country's aquaculture production reached 9.4 million tonnes in 2021, with an annual growth rate of 8.1% from 2020. Production from this segment indeed exhibited tremendous growth, with a nearly three-fold growth observed in the past decade.

 

The development of new aquaculture production zones in India, however, had begun to exert pressure on traditional production zones. As aquaculture production from certain Indian states is showing progress and promising opportunities, traditional fish production pockets, like Andhra Pradesh, face difficulties in finding market opportunities for their aquaculture products. Eventually, this scenario would drive toward the diversification of aquaculture species, with producers seeking new markets.

 

Newly emerging aquaculture regions are not without their issues; farming technologies are being employed in these new markets without a proper assessment of their need and suitability in their areas of operation.

 

Rising competitiveness for  L. vannamei shrimp market

 

In the inland, brackish water aquaculture segment, the introduction of Litopenaeus vannamei transformed India into a major producer of the shrimp in the last 10 years. From nearly 96,000 tonnes of shrimp production in 2019-20, India saw a volume of nearly 850,000 tonnes of shrimp in 2020-21. 

 

Unfortunately, the current global market has curtailed opportunities for L. vannamei in India. Lower market demand and rising competition from other countries producing L. vannamei impacted the farmgate price of India's L. vannamei.

 

A reduced farmgate price for L. vannamei generated turbulence in the segment. As such, farmers started to optimise production cost and reduce farming areas and stocking densities. As per the market source's estimation, the situation is going to remain the same in 2024 as well.    

 

Current state of India's aquafeed sector

 

India's aquafeed segment is another area where phenomenal development happened in the past decade. 

 

The country's 'floating' fish feed industry has grown to more than three million tonnes of production capacity while the shrimp feed segment — following the introduction of L. vannamei to Indian shrimp production — reached nearly 3.6 million tonnes production capacity.

 

The way forward for Indian aquaculture

 

Today, India's aquaculture industry is passing through a crucial phase. While it has an enormous amount of untapped resources suitable for aquaculture, stakeholders are facing challenges in making aquaculture a profitable venture.

 

Thus, a strategic marketing plan to explore domestic and export market opportunities should be created and implemented with the involvement of all industry stakeholders, government officials and policymakers.

 

Developing a unified marketing strategy to promote aquaculture products would be key to get all parties involved and position the industry on the path of sustainable progression.  

 

- Dr. Dinesh Bhosale and Umakanth Ravinuthala