Sustainable brackish water shrimp farming: An approach for India

摘要

Cultured shrimp has become a big source of income in the past decade compared to other industries because of its high market value and relatively short production cycle. This is the central reason for the industrialists to venture into this area to make a quick profit. Traditionally, for shrimp, people depended primarily on small scale culture or marine catch, but slowly, the growing demand for shrimp could not be fulfilled from the catch alone. This led to the quest for technological development ofshrimp culture in ponds near the coastal areas. In the Indian subcontinent, shrimp culture started initially in the paddy fields of Bengal and Kerala to compliment vegetables, rice and other grains grown in the vicinity. The catch was mostly for family consumption or for local markets. But advancement in shrimp farming technology that increased production, that product is now meeting the demand for marine shrimp in the international market to some extent. Today, shrimp farming is practiced in nearly 50nations with the largest portion coming from tropical Asian countries. India is producing eight percent of the total world shrimp production and is the fifth largest producer of shrimp in the world market. India has earned a large share of foreign exchange, owing to its vast coastline, characteristic topography and adept farmers. Several species of shrimp are being cultured in India, but the most popular ones are Penaeus monodon and P. indicus.