10 Supply and Demand Equilibrium
Shrimp breeding: Strategies for Success A discussion with broodstock suppliers to help the hatchery and farming sectors in India harness the potential of current lines of vannamei broodstock (May 10-11) with the participation of local and regional hatchery operators and farmers. “Together with leading broodstock suppliers, we want to share experiences, address the plight of several of the hatchery operators regarding performance of broodstock, production of quality post larvae and later, performance in terms of size and survival rate.”
New shrimp lines
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hrimp breeding, per se, plays a critical role in the shrimp aquaculture value chain. India’s vannamei shrimp farming industry is a major market for global shrimp breeding companies supplying specific pathogen-free (SPF) Penaeus vannamei broodstock. In 2021, it imported almost 300,000 broodstock for an 80 billion post larvae production. In its registry, the Coastal Aquaculture Authority (CAA) has 11 approved suppliers. All imports of broodstock undergo quarantine at the Aquatic Quarantine Facility in Chennai operated by the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Aquaculture (RGCA). “We have achieved a total production of 920,000 tonnes of shrimp in 2021, with vannamei shrimp accounting for 90%. This could not have happened without these SPF broodstock. But we are at a crossroads, as the farming sector is facing a zero-sum game with inflationary pressures, production costs going up and diseases reducing efficiencies. Cash flow is down with freight disruptions and broodstock shipments late in reaching their destinations. Today, no segment in the supply chain is happy and is losing confidence upstream and downstream. Recurring crop failures and losses make the hatcheries and farmers cast doubts on shrimp genetics too,” said Ravi Kumar Yellanki, Managing Director of Vaisakhi Bio-Resources and President of the All India Shrimp Hatcheries Association or AISHA. AISHA represents close to 600 shrimp hatcheries operating in India, with a total production capacity of 80-100 billion post larvae annually. A webinar “Shrimp breeding: Strategies for Success” was held over two days
Moderator for the webinar, Ravi Kumar Yellanki, President of AISHA said that the farming segment is changing in India, “We want to engage with shrimp breeding companies. In this exchange, we want to know how hatcheries can harness the full potential of their broodstock.”
July/August 2022 AQUA Culture Asia Pacific
All the broodstock suppliers have several lines supporting growth, survival, balanced traits, etc. These have added to the confusion in the hatchery segment. “We understand that a lot is happening in shrimp breeding, but have we done enough?” asks Ravi Kumar who also moderated the webinar. “The farming segment is changing in India and we want to engage with shrimp breeding companies. We need to come together because we are all integral to the success of farmers. If our farmers do not do well, hatcheries and breeding companies will be affected. In this exchange, we want to know how hatcheries can harness the full potential of their broodstock.” He also compared India’s competitiveness with Ecuador, the country reached a million tonnes production and in 2022, is exporting more than 90,000 tonnes per month. “The shrimp industry in Ecuador seems to be doing well; they have tweaked genetics for disease tolerance and larger size shrimp.”
In his presentation “It’s a wake-up time: Shrimp breeding for shrimp culture success in India,” Robins McIntosh, said that the difference between India and Ecuador is crop failure rates - very low in Ecuador and moderate and going higher in India.
Some musts for successful shrimp farming
Bringing lessons from Ecuador to Asia, Robins McIntosh, Charoen Pokphand Foods, said that Ecuador and India aim to reach one million tonnes. The steep uptrend in production in Ecuador will continue but for India, this trendline is bearing down. “This is always a bad sign. India needs to adjust to be back on track and challenge Ecuador.” McIntosh described how Ecuador used Asia’s closed systems with autofeeders (I unit/ha) and aerators (6-10HP/ha) and how it has used the genetics of fast growth, large size and robust lines. Now, many ponds can produce 20 tonnes/ha/year by stocking at 30PL/m2. In the case of India, McIntosh said that farmers became nervous when shrimp prices went down and aquafeed prices rose to INR85,000/tonne (up by INR5,000/tonne). “The difference between India and Ecuador is crop failure rates - very low in Ecuador, while moderate and going higher in India.” The crucial role played by the changing culture environment in addition to genetics was highlighted. With the rapid increase in shrimp production, environmental issues need to be given due attention to maintain sustainability of
