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Retreat 2023: Competitive Farmers
from THE CRUST - ISSUE #7
by THE CRUST
admit that we are still far less competitive than Ecuador.
Ecuador, which uses a Traditional Plus method in cultivation, differs from the widely used method in Indonesia. Based on this, Deny said that it’s not fair to compare the shrimp price in Indonesia to Ecuador. “But I am confident that as long as people still need to eat, the shrimp market will persist, and there is also the fact that shrimp is more sustainable compared to red meat,” Deny said confidently.
When considering the threat of disease to shrimp cultivation, Deny staunchly said that it has nothing to do with the low price. However, he did not deny that the low price would be more painful for farmers whose farms were hit by diseases. “Speaking about diseases, it is necessary to observe various efforts needed to increase the survival rate. And there is no harm in learning from India how they survive similar situations. But, it’s important to point out that to see a significant result, a change must be done together by all the farmers in one region; a mere one or two persons making an effort will not be enough,” he explained.
Increasing Competitiveness
Another alternative that can be considered to improve industry competitiveness is exploring the tourism sector, according to Deny. Quoting the view of Janeen Arnold Costa (1993), he believes that tourism can boost interest, which will change the behavior in both directions, either tourists or areas visited by tourists. This view explains a certain connection between tourism and shrimp consumption.
Deny further explains that the stakeholders of shrimp trading must keenly observe which country or local tourism likes to consume shrimp or other seafood. “We need to make gastronomy as a way to increase shrimp consumption and introduce to the consumers that shrimp, despite its diverse variety, is part of a sustainable fishery product. Therefore, the expectation is that shrimp consumption will increase and the knowledge of shrimp as a sustainable product will be carried to wherever they go,” he said.
Deny also briefly mentioned the shrimp processing industry because processing is closely related to shrimp consumption, and the opportunity to increase domestic shrimp consumption is clearly there. “I hope that many processing factories in Indonesia can cooperate with KKP or other institutions. This will create activities that introduce shrimp to new consumers, which increase local consumption while staying contextual and acceptable to the locals,” he said.
To add insight and awaken the passion of shrimp farmers, ISR 2023 presents speakers from various fields, such as marketing, experts in shrimp management, and fisheries startups that focus on aquaculture. Among the experts who attended as speakers were Shirlene Maria Anthonysamy from Infofish, Corey Peet from Postelsia, Widodo Sumiyanto from BKIPM, Alexander Farthing from DELOS, John Hargreaves, who is the Editor in Chief of WAS Magazine, Dr. Mian Riaz from Texas A&M University, Robert Blonk from Kona Bay, and Prof. Agus Suprayudi from IPB University.
ISR 2023, held for two days, presented seminars with various topics and themes. Besides the seminars, there were also mini-exhibitions organized by multiple companies supporting shrimp cultivation. The list of exhibitors includes feed mill companies such as CP Prima, Suri Tani Pemuka, and Sinta Feedmill. Moreover, start-up companies such as DELOS and FisTx were also present to enliven the event.
