A new shrimp-breeding facility in India will soon be constructed in the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh. An agreement between India's National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) and Hong Kong-based Moana Technologies was signed in New Delhi on March 20. On hand to witness the agreement was Shri Sharad Pawar, India's minister of agriculture, who is also the chairman of the NFDB.
Pawar is confident that the new breeding facility will improve the future of shrimp culture in India.
Within three years, the Srikakulam facility will produce genetically improved white spot syndrome-free shrimp, with a full capacity of about 3 billion post-larvae. The harvest of Srikakulam broodstock will significantly improve India's shrimp aquaculture.
According to Dr. Pradeep Kumar, secretary of the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, the Indian shrimp industry is flourishing with an annual output of 1.2 million tons, harvesting mostly Penaeus monodon, or black tiger shrimp. However, the broodstock is often infected with white spot, which is capable of killing an entire pond of shrimp in a short period.
Meanwhile, the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Aquaculture-sponsored breeding facility in Andaman and Nicobar has showed a promising sign with two generations of disease-free shrimp raised in captivity. The facility, located in Kodiyaghat, is also expected to supply Indian shrimpers with pathogen-free brookstock.
