A sharp fall in the stocking of seeds at shrimp farms in the Indian state of Odisha is likely to take a toll on production there, according to the Business Standard.Shrimp farmers were already facing low prices on account of the anti-oxidant ethoxyquin, which has been banned by some importing counties, getting into its shrimp, and stricter guidelines for obtaining Pre-Harvest Test Certificate (PHTC) from Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA).That has led farmers to take a cautious stand and go for low stocking.
"Only 60 million seeds had been stocked at various shrimp farms in the state by March, this year, compared to about 200 million seeds last year. This is likely to affect the culture production of shrimps, which may dip by 30 percent compared to about 8,000 tons last year," said Prava Ranajan Patnaik, managing director,Falcon Marine Exports Ltd, a leading exporter of the country.
Patnaik attributed the decline in stocking to the stricter implementation of the PHTC system norms. Sources say, out of 16,000 hectares under aquaculture in the state, only 4,327 hectares belonged to registered farms. While 4,651 farmers are registered with Coastal Aquaculture Authority (CAA), 70% of the farmers remain unregistered.
As per the Export Inspection Council notification, all those establishments procuring/processing aquaculture products have to obtain PHTC from MPEDA after due test of their produce prior to the harvest so as to establish that they are harvested from ponds which are free from the residues of harmful anti-biotics like Nitrofuran metabiolities and chloramphenicol. Farmers say they are going slow on stocking due to the huge loss suffered by them after imposition of restriction by Japan on import of shrimp.
