Shortage of disease-free brood-stock hits the sector hard

Aquaculture farmers in Ongole district have kept their fingers crossed as a stronger rupee against US dollar and shortage of disease-free brood-stock is hitting the sector hard.
The farmers were all smiles when Vannamei shrimp produced by them fetched a premium price of up to Rs. 780 per kg for a 30-count early this year, in the wake of a fall in production in East and Southeast Asian countries.
“We are spending sleepless nights with the price of Vannamei shrimp plummeting to Rs. 510 per kg. We will be in a big trouble if there is any further fall in the sale price,” said a group of aquaculture farmers in Kothapatnam, with worries writ large on their faces. 
With more than 1.20 lakh hectares of wastelands under aquaculture, the State government could easily double or treble the production of two lakh tonnes last year with some sector-friendly initiatives, opined Andhra Pradesh State Prawn Farmers’ Welfare Association secretary A. Kondal Rayudu while speaking to The Hindu .
Explaining that seed surveillance by the Coastal Aquaculture Authority (CAA) had become a worry for aquaculture farmers, he suggested that the process be made more stringent to weed out unhealthy brood-stock before their entry to aqua farms.
“The State, having a vast coastline and tropical climatic condition, is best suited for aquaculture throughout the year. But, shortage in supply of Specific Pathogen Free (SPF) brood-stock is putting paid to our hopes of getting decent returns,” lamented M. Edukondalu, a farmer from Kothapatnam.
 Another farmer from Tangutur, Pammidi Chinna Subbaiah, said the government should accord top priority to developing domestic market for protein-rich shrimp to reduce the State’s over-dependence on international market, where fluctuating prices had become the order of the day.
Yet, another farmer, Tella Ramaiah, said: “We do not get assured returns throughout the year. The Centre should consider providing export incentives and income tax exemption to us as the sector earns precious foreign exchange for the nation.”