Strategic alliance on India’s first homegrown larval feed for shrimp

Strategic alliance on India’s first homegrown feed for shrimp larvae

Signing the MOU were Dr K.P. Jithendran, Director, ICAR-CIBA and Shri V.R. Sharma, Vice-President, Coastal Corporation Ltd. Looking on are Dr Joykrushna Jena (second row) and Dr K. Ambasankar (right).

Quality larvae feeds are the central element for successful shrimp hatchery operations. At present the larvae feeds used in India are all imported and expensive. In this context, industry in India says cost-effective indigenous feeds for shrimp larvae is the need of the hour for sustainable aquaculture.

Over the last five years, focussed research at the Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture, Indian Council of Agricultural Research under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (ICAR-CIBA) has resulted in the development of Shrimp LarviPlus . This feed has been tested and demonstrated for its effectiveness in various shrimp hatcheries in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. This is India’s first indigenous feed for shrimp larvae.

In May, ICAR-CIBA formed a strategic alliance with M/s Coastal Corporation Ltd, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, under the “Make in India” program for the manufacture of this shrimp larvae feed. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in the presence of Dr J.K. Jena, Deputy Director General (Fisheries), ICAR, New Delhi. Jena during his address appreciated the scientists and highlighted the necessity for promoting this shrimp larvae feed.

According to Dr K.P. Jithendran, CIBA Director, this effort will undoubtedly improve the economics, contribute to innovation and growth and encourage sustainability and competitiveness in the aquafeed sector in the longer run. He also expressed his wish for a long-lasting and beneficial journey and for both parties to share experiences. Shri V.R. Sharma, Vice President, Coastal Corporation Ltd. narrated his three decades of hatchery and farming experience and shared the encouraging trial results obtained with CIBA’s shrimp Larvi Plus as well as his intention to take this technology not only within India but to a global level.

Dr K. Ambasankar, Principal Scientist and team leader for feed technology, acknowledged the significance of this MoU and outlined the genesis of this initiative. He stressed that this technology would benefit the aquaculture sector in the long run. On the current situation with shrimp larvae feeds in India, Ambasankar said, “There are umpteen brands of imported shrimp larvae feeds available in the market. However, quality varies from brand to brand. The cost also varies from INR1000/kg to as much as INR3,000/kg (USD12.9 -USD38.8/kg). This high cost of larvae feed is coupled with the difficulties in importing particularly during this Covid-19 pandemic. Then, there is the additional import duty. Therefore, there is a requirement of an indigenous larval feed. Our main objective is to provide a quality and cost-effective feed available for hatcheries situated all over India.”

He told AAP that the R&D trial has been completed. Testing in the commercial hatcheries in India gave encouraging results. “The results showed that this feed is on par with the best feed available in the market. The test feed has been prepared in our pilot scale feed mill. Based on these test results, Coastal Corporation Ltd will commercialise the technology and the feed is expected to be commercially available by 2023. However, if anyone is interested to get the sample tested internationally, we can provide the feed sample. www.ciba.res.in