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`Need to diversify aquaculture output'

C.J. Punnathara

KOCHI, Feb. 21

WHILE shrimp has remained the mainstay of marine exports for decades, aquaculture production has been an important factor that has helped it to sustain its paramount position.

The country's shrimp exports which was stagnating around 50,000 tonnes in the seventies rose to over one lakh tonnes between 1985-86 and 1994-95.

``This happened solely due to the spectacular development of shrimp culture,'' Dr G. Santhanakrishnan, Joint Director of the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), said.

By 1999-2000, the contribution of aquaculture to shrimp exports stood at 54,000 tonnes, constituting 49 per cent by weight of exports. This is about 76 per cent of value realisation, fetching Rs 2,782 crore in the process. However, the debilitating disea se crisis that plagued shrimp culture followed by the Supreme Court verdict arrested growth and further spread.

It is in this background that fishery experts are seriously pursuing avenues at diversification in the aquaculture industry.

``The diversification is not only significant for augmenting our exports, but is equally important in carving out new niche and even capturing new markets,'' Dr Santhanakrishnan said. This diversification will also have a direct reflection on rural devel opment in large parts of coastal areas.

The 8000-km coastline, the 1,71,334 kms of rivers and 2.85 million hectares of ponds and tanks and the diverse climatic conditions in which they exist make the country ideal for diversification in aquaculture species. Depending on the export demand, the country has a wide variety of fish species to choose from.

And one of the most fancied choice is scampi, or giant freshwater prawn. The FAO 2000 statistics reveals certain interesting traits in Indian-cultured scampi production during the decade between 1989 and 1998. But for two intervening years, scampi produc tion had remained below 200 tonnes between 1989 and 1996. During 1997 production rose to 753 tonnes, registering an increase of 323 per cent over the previous year.

In the following year the production rose to 1,507 tonnes, an increase of 100 per cent. According to MPEDA estimates, production last year, 1999-2000, reached an all-time high of 7,140 tonnes.

However the scampi production compared to the country's total aquaculture shrimp production pales into insignificance. This clearly shows that scampi culture has not gained the same degree of attention by entrepreneurs that was extended to tiger shrimp, Dr Santhanakrishnan observed.

There are 35 scampi hatcheries in existence in the country with a total installed capacity to generate 812 million seedling per annum. However, the actual production has been confined to 250-300 million seeds. Despite all the problems of standardisation and broodstock management, more hatcheries will have to be established to meet the increasing demand for seeds as more and more areas which are endowed with the conducive atmosphere divert to scampi culture.

There is an urgent need to diversify from prawn aquaculture to include other species as scampi, he said.

Freshwater prawns being an exportable species, the potential in foreign markets also remains high. This has been one of the prime reasons why MPEDA has been supporting scampi culture and extending financial assistance to such programmes.

In order to standardise and demonstrate the commercial farming technology, MPEDA is implementing a Department of Biotechnology-sponsored project at Erode in Tamil Nadu. Another project for scampi culture demonstration is in progress Kuttanad in Kerala.

But, MPEDA has not confined its aquaculture diversification programmes to scampi alone. Tilapia, crabs, Asian Seabass are some of the other species that it is focusing on, in order to enhance the aquaculture base of the country.