Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Minority Affairs, Shri George Kurian has witnessed the 8th consecutive harvest of this new age shrimp production system as Chief Guest along with the heads of export and Fisheries Development organizations like MPEDA, CAA, NFDB, DoF and representatives of shrimp farming sector from the maritime states at CIBA’s Muttukadu Experimental Station on Tuesday, 08 October 2024. The Minister invited the shrimp farming industry to adopt and scale up this new shrimp production system which has the potential to put the Indian shrimp farming in right trajectory.
Shrimp farming the cultivation of shrimp species under controlled conditions is the proven commercial aquaculture model continued to contribute 70% of seafood export earnings in value terms worth INR 46,000 crores with a production of around 10 Lakh metric tonnes. Despite its significant contributions, the profitability of shrimp farming has been challenged due to production risks-disease, increasing production costs and stagnant farm gate prices for the last 15 years and climatic perturbs and extreme climate change events like extreme diurnal temperature variations, erratic rainfall patterns, floods and cyclones. Therefore, shrimp farmers are looking for an innovative production system which can produce more shrimp per unit area with less energy costs, able to meet the market demands (market driven), climate smart and resilient.
ICAR-CIBA has developed its Next Generation Super-Intensive Precision Shrimp Farming Technology integrating its cutting-edge technologies and expertise. It is a HDPE circular tanks based production system with central nursery and state of the art energy dispensation modes with an integrated waste water management system. Farmers can plan their crop cycle in-tune with market requirements in terms of shrimp size and volume. This new age shrimp production system is expected to achieve a ‘revolution’ in the shrimp farming sector.
This system can produce 100-120 tonnes of shrimp per hectare per annum in three crop cycles (100 days/cycle) i.e more shrimp from less space with lesser critical inputs like feed and energy. This farming innovation promises higher productivity, reduced production costs, and lower risks, transforming Indian shrimp farming into a truly sustainable industry.
This innovative shrimp production technology developed by CIBA is being demonstrated for its techno-economic feasibility with the financial support of the ‘Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY)’ of the Department of Fisheries, Govt. of India fulfilling its main motto of ‘Reform, Perform and Transform’ the Fisheries Sector with a production goal of two million tonnes of shrimp and an export value amounting ₹ one lakh crores by 2025.
Two MoUs for transfer of this Next Generation Super-Intensive Precision Shrimp Farming Technology for further validation was also singed during the occasion with Water base Pvt Ltd., Chennai and Prasidhi Exports Pvt Ltd, Nellore. Similarly, another MoU was also signed for the sustainable integration of seaweeds in shrimp aquaculture for enhancing growth, environmental health and seed bank development with Ms.TSC Purple Pvt. Ltd., Gujarat.
In addition to this new shrimp production model, the Honourable Minister has also launched the third shrimp crop insurance scheme developed by the M/s. Digisafe Insurance Ltd., with the technical support of ICAR-CIBA. Already two shrimp crop insurance products are in operation launched respectively by Agricultural Insurance of Corporation of India and Oriental Insurance Corporation of India with CIBA’s technical backstopping.
ICAR-Central Institute of Brackish water Aquaculture (CIBA)is the nodal research institution under the aegis of Indian Council of Agricultural Research has been developing sustainable and diversified brackish water aquaculture technologies for shrimp, fish and mud crab species for over three decades. CIBA’s multidisciplinary work includes breakthroughs in seed production, feed development, disease diagnostics, health management, and climate-smart aquaculture systems, all while engaging communities and supporting policy interventions.