September 25, 2007

Shrimp farmers in India's Andhra Pradesh in troubled waters

Shrimp hatcheries in Andhra Pradesh are suffering severe financial losses due to lack of demand and a strengthening rupee.

According to hatchery owners, shrimp farm operators have lost at least Rs 10-15 crore during the last season ended July and more hatcheries will close operations in December if the situation continues.

Operators said around 50 percent of the hatchery owners have already stopped shrimp seed production.

Andhra Pradesh has about 240 shrimp hatcheries with a production capacity of about 16,000 million seeds every year.

During the last season (May to July), these hatcheries produced just 4,000-5,000 million seeds due to less demand.

Apart from a drop in production, prices were also significantly reduced. Normally, the production cost for each quality shrimp seed is around 22 paise, but during the last season, hatchery owners sold seeds at 16-18 paise.

The dull business has seen many shrimp farmers shift to fish culture.