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Crises stalk Indian aquaculture sector
George Joseph
The aquaculture sector in India suffered setbacks in terms of production, value and acreage during 2008-09. The overall production, including that of Scampi and shrimp, came down by 33.44 per cent to 88,803 tonnes against 133,422 tonnes last year. In value terms, the fall was 32.48 per cent to Rs 1,915 crore against Rs 2,836 crore in the previous year.
According to a report on aquaculture, the area under aquaculture has been declining since the last 2-3 years. The low acreage has been attributed to a major rise in production cost, recurring outbreak of disease and natural calamities.
During 2008-09, shrimp production registered a decline of 28.4 per cent and Scampi production came down by 53 per cent.
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IN A SOUP |
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Variety |
Production |
Acreage |
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‘07-08 |
‘08-09 |
% chg |
‘07-08 |
’08-09 |
% chg |
|
Shrimp |
1,06,160 |
75,996 |
28.41 |
1,22,079 |
1,08,788 |
10.89 |
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Scampi |
27,262 |
12,806 |
53.00 |
50,206 |
22,956 |
63.30 |
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Production in tonnes, Acreage in hectares Source: Industry |
Global economic turmoil combined with the advent of low-cost Vannamei species of shrimp produced in countries such as Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia and China has weakened the prospect of Indian shrimp in the global market, especially in terms of prices. Countries such as the US and Japan now prefer Vannamei shrimp instead of traditional Indian species such as Black Tiger.
The prevalence of disease and poor quality seeds have also affected farming in states such as Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa and Kerala.
However, Andhra Pradesh topped the production of both shrimp and Scampi in 2008-09, followed by West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
India’s total marine product exports in 2008-09 were 602,835 tonnes valued at Rs 8,607.94 crore against 541,701 tonnes valued at Rs 7620.92 crore in 2007-08.
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