US-based shrimp breeding company Shrimp Improvement Systems (SIS) has introduced the Hardy Line Vannamei shrimp broodstock into India, aiming to foster fast growth of shrimps, notwithstanding diseases.

This line has been developed to face the tough conditions prevalent in farms. Thus, it is more tolerable to disease outbreaks, does not lose its ability to grow fast, and has high fecundity. It is proven that this shrimp line can grow up to 0.347 grams per day with SR (survival rate) of 87 per cent and biomass of around 8.6 T/ha in 100 days in India, Lakkaraju Satyanarain (Tikku), the consultant of SIS in India told BusinessLine .

With increasing annual production, he said, shrimp farming in India faces numerous challenges, mainly various viral, bacterial and fungal diseases, and environmental problems. Some of the diseases that has infected shrimps are white spots, white feces, EHP, and running mortality syndrome, among others.

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It is possible to rear healthy shrimps by adopting improved bio-security, and pond to zone management. Other areas for improvement include better pathogen detection, better understanding of their mode of action, effective use of immune-stimulants and probiotics. The company believes farmed shrimp species have much potential for further genetic improvement, such as in their growth rates, he said.

SIS conducts a commercial genetic improvement programme for shrimp aquaculture with established techniques of selective breeding already being used in other agribusinesses. Its programme is based on proprietary-developed pure lines selected for specific economic characteristics, over 30 generations. It is designed to produce the best Specific Pathogen Resistant (SPR) and Specific Pathogen Free (SPF) shrimps, enabling customers to benefit from the shortest possible transfer of genetic gains achieved from each breeding session.

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Overall, the competitive advantages of SIS’ shrimps are fast growth, high fecundity, resistance to the Taura Syndrome Virus (TSV), and freedom from specific pathogens. SIS’ commercial lines have consistently demonstrated that under the right conditions, it can grow to 40 grams in 100 days (over 3.5 grams per week), to produce more than 6.5 million nauplii over the productive lifetime of a female, and have general hardiness to stress and disease resistance.

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