Another shrimp 'gold rysh' goes bust

摘要

As in much of Asia, shrimp farming along India's coastline has been a feverish and unpoliced get-rich-quick business for the past three years. Trying to grab a portion of the US 8 billion dollar global seafood trade, entrepreneurs have jampacked theirshallow ponds with millions of imported shrimp seed and tons of imported nutrients. The result: a mysterious disease wiped out the entire season's crop, worth Rs 200 crore (US 63.8 million dollar), in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in 1994. The viral disease flared up on the east coast during the last quarter of 1994 and spread like wildfire Now, row upon row of empty ponds are on a forced crop-holiday.