India’s shrimp production is projected to fall by between 10 and 15 percent in 2020 compared to last year, primarily due to the shortage of broodstock supply.
India’s imports of vannamei broodstock were disrupted from 22 March to 12 May during India’s national lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Society of Aquaculture Professionals President Ravi Kumar Yellenki said the disruption has affected schedules for India’s shrimp farmers and will eventually lead to a drop in production, according to The Economic Times. But Yellenki said India’s supply chain for broodstock has improved in recent weeks and he predicted shrimp exports to rise in the second half of the year.
Even with the slowdown, shrimp exports to both the United States and China, the top buyers of the Indian shrimp, rose in April, with shipments to the U.S. surging 25 percent.
In 2019, India produced more than 800,000 metric tons (MT) of shrimp, with exports declining in the first half of last year but surging in the second half.
Shrimp exporters in most of the states in India are currently carrying out production activities to fulfill their export contracts, a large-scale shrimp trader told SeafoodSource on Monday, 22 June.
In the week ending 19 June, farmers in Andhra Pradesh in the East Coast were harvesting vannamei, and buyers from other states had inquired into purchasing that state’s material for processing, the trader said.
In Tamil Nadu, local authorities imposed strict lockdown measures for two weeks starting 19 June to curb the outbreak of the coronavirus. Processing activities in Chennai, the capital city of the state, are expected to resume beginning in the first week of July, according to the trader.
In the West Coast, some material shortages have been seen in Goa and Karnataka, which has affected processing there.
Photo courtesy of Chuchai/Shutterstock
