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Shift to scampi, AP aqua farmers told

Our Bureau

MACHILIPATNAM, June 4

AQUA farmers in Andhra Pradesh should take up culture of freshwater prawn with the advice of experts and the Government will extend all help to them, the State Fisheries Minister, Mr. N. Narasimha Rao, has said.

At a seminar organised by the Fisheries Department here on `Culture of freshwater prawn', the Minister said aqua farmers in the State had suffered losses during the past decade, culturing tiger prawn, due to the outbreak of disease. Therefore, there was a need for species diversification. Freshwater prawn, known as scampi, was more disease-resistant and had good export potential. But farmers should follow the advice of experts, he said.

For the benefit of aqua farmers, the State Government would set up an aquaculture lab either in Vijayawada or Machilipatnam. Besides, aqua diagnostic centres would be set up in Vijayawada, Bhimavaram, Nellore and Kakinada. For setting up cold storage uni ts, farmers would be given loans of Rs. 2 crores apiece, of which Rs. 50 lakhs would be treated as subsidy.

The MP from Machilipatnam, Mr. A. Brahmanaiah, advised the farmers to tread cautiously and take up scampi culture scientifically. He urged the State Government to set up the aqua lab in Machilipatnam.

The Deputy Director of the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), Vijayawada, Mr. Vishnu Bhatt, said the world production of scampi amounted to 50,000 tonnes per annum, of which Thailand accounted for 50 per cent. Scampi, too, would fetch good prices in the international market, though not on a par with tiger prawn.

Till now, he said, no viral disease had been detected anywhere in the world afflicting the freshwater prawn. Only minor fungal and bacterial diseases had to be dealt with in culturing scampi.

However, the scampi seed production would have to be increased substantially for commercialisation of the species. Currently, there were 15 hatcheries with an annual capacity of three million seedlings in the State, but it would not be sufficient. Hatche ries producing tiger prawn seeds could convert and produce scampi seed, or simultaneously both seeds could be produced. Currently, scampi seed was costing 80 paise to Rs. 1 per unit, which was slightly on the higher side.

Mr. Bhatt said scampi could be cultured along with fish and polyculture would be profitable. Besides, he suggested, culture could be taken up in the lakes and ponds of Telangana region as a social fisheries scheme. Nellore district, with a waterspread ar ea of 5,200 hectares, stood first in scampi culture in the State.

Farmers engaged in aquaculture submitted a petition to the Minister seeking reduction in water cess from Rs. 500 per acre to Rs. 100 and in power tariff. The facilities given to the agricultural sector should also be extended to aquaculture, they pleaded .