The Hindu Business Line : Action plan to attract investment in aquaculture sector

An action plan for the development of export-oriented aquaculture in maritime States, tie up with a Swiss agency for organic aquaculture and a proposal to set up a pathogen free brood stock facility for culturing disease-free mother shrimps near the Andamans were among the announcements at Indaqua 2007, the conference and exhibition on aquaculture industry.

The action plan formally announced by the Union Minister of State for Commerce, Mr Jairam Ramesh, envisages investments of over Rs 2,700 crore over the next five years in the coastal States. This would facilitate additional production of over 1,07,950 tonnes of shrimps a year valued at about Rs 3,797 crore.

Brackish water

The Minister said only 15 per cent of the brackish water potential in the country was utilised and mostly it was in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and West Bengal.

In Gujarat, where a third of the brackish water is available, the resource was untapped.

Similarly, in Orissa and Maharashtra also the potential was yet to be exploited. The action plan also focuses on encouraging aquaculture in these places.

Seafood exports

The benefits of encouraging seafood exports should not be viewed in dollar terms but as a source of employment generation. Marine products export account for just two per cent of the country's exports but the employment generation potential is huge. Over two million more workers can be absorbed into the industry in addition to the one million now employed, he said.

The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) has identified the Andaman and Nicobar region as the only biosecure zone for setting up a specific pathogen free broodstock facility. It will help culture disease-free mother shrimps, which can be used by hatcheries to produce disease-free shrimp seeds to supply to the farms.

Absence of quality seeds and frequent outbreaks of shrimp disease in farms and hatcheries is the single largest reason for shrimp production stagnating over the last decade, he said.

Shrimp farming

The MPEDA and Swiss Import Promotion Programme (SIPPO) entered into an agreement to promote organic shrimp farming to tap the markets in the US and EU, apart from Switzerland.

Mr Markus Stern, CEO, SIPPO, said the markets in Europe were increasingly looking for products that were the result of sustainable cultivation systems and pose less risk to human health.

The organic products market is a growing one with low supply - it is an opportunity that India can exploit.

Mr G. Mohan Kumar, Chairman, MPEDA, said the agreement provided for a three-year programme for training farmers and officials, certification of hatcheries, processing plants and farms.

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