The Hindu Business Line : Exporters see group approach as key to reviving shrimp farming

The group approach to shrimp farming by the Pamini River Shrimp Culture in coastal Tamil Nadu has enabled the cluster to overcome the inherent handicaps faced by unitary farmers and has proved to be a major success story for other stakeholders.

The group, which was formed in 2003 mainly to combat recurrent and deadly disease outbreaks through collective enforcements of preventive and management practices, has grown rapidly in terms of the number of farms and the number ponds under it.

The cluster which started out with just five farms and 35 ponds has now grown to 50 farms and 320 ponds. It was the association which oversaw the collective farm operations including pond preparation, stocking, farm management, harvesting and marketing that had enabled it to prevent the vertical and horizontal transmission of diseases, promote optimum utilisation of resources and to help the farmers get better price for their shrimp crop, a report published by the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) said.

“The collective approach would prove quite successful in aquaculture farms since it could immediately arrest cross contamination. The persistent problem of the sector was that even if one wererunning his farm according to all operational guidelines, cross contamination from his poorly run neighbour could ruin his crop and his total investments,” Mr Anwar Hashim, President of the SEAI, said.

Compensation

There has been just one reported disease outbreak at the cluster in 2007 when the Pamini association bleached 20 ponds and a compensation of Rs 20 lakh was paid to these pond owners. This compensation-inked shrimp disease management is a unique mechanism and should be emulated by other shrimp farming clusters, export sources said.

The collective follows a strict code of conduct in case of disease outbreaks. Premature or emergency harvesting is allowed in case the disease is something other than the white spot syndrome virus. Even in the case of white spot disease, harvesting is permitted depending upon the weight of the shrimps, but under strict vigil and supervision to ensure that the disease does not spread to other ponds.

Bird fencing

But more than the moves at combating disease, it is the collective efforts at disease prevention which has been receiving accolades for the cluster.

Bird fencing of ponds was made mandatory which alone is reported to have reduced disease spread by 30-40 per cent. Every farm had a water reservoir where the source of water is periodically disinfected.

It was also mandatory that every farm had a paid consultant who is required to visit the farm once a week to monitor and provide advice. The association itself enumerated a list of technically qualified persons to act as consultants.

The purchase of seeds, stocking density, purchase of feed, application of probiotics and aeration were regularly monitored. Bulk purchase of raw materials helped reduce costs for all the participating farms. Experience has amply shown that farmer groups can ensure responsible and sustainable aquaculture development, empower farmers through collective decision making, offer opportunities to link with the markets, improve social, environmental and food safety responsibility and contribute to the long-term sustainability of shrimp farming, seafood exporters pointed out.

Three phases

The Indian shrimp aquaculture has gone through three distinct phases in its history. There was the rising phase of the nineties when a sense of keen competition prevailed among the farmers. This was followed by the period of decline when the farms were hit by recurrent disease outbreaks and huge loss of crops and capital. It is in the third phase of consolidation and recovery, a phase when new ideas and schemes such as collectives and group farming can help the sector to grow.

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