Shrimp farms have spurred a marine products exports growth in the country, with the total seafood exports crossing a whopping USD 5 billion during 2013-14.
While seafood has shown a cumulative growth of 5.98 per cent in production over last year, shrimp industry has emerged as a tremendous value adder with frozen shrimp exports contributing to 64.12 per cent of the total USD earnings.
Even as the shrimp industry in the East Asian countries was facing threat of extinction due to the dreaded Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS) infection , Indian shrimp industry has shown resilience and strong growth.
According to the Marine Products Export Development Authority, the robust growth in the production of L.Vannamei shrimps is the main contributor to this growth story.
While the production of the species has increased from 91,171 MT in 2012-13 to 1,75,071 MT in 2013-14, its export has grown by 92.03 per cent, contributing significantly to the country’s export and dollar earnings.
Export of L.Vannamei shrimps to the US market alone has grown by 59.63 per cent. Speaking to The Hindu , Leena Nair, chairperson, MPEDA, attributed the robust growth to various factors.
“There was a vacuum in the market, and we had a lot to offer. Economic condition in the West was also picking up.”
“As we took all the precautions, productivity has been quite good. The farming sector moved cautiously and we were able to have a good harvest.”
For now, MPEDA aims to achieve the targeted export growth of USD 6 billion for 2014-15. “So far, we only have 18-20 per cent in value addition.
The main thrust is to improve value addition in the country and make leaps and bounds in the area.”
“Value addition is the next step by which we can improve our export value,” says the MPEDA chairperson.
Frozen shrimp has contributed to 64.12 per cent of the total USD earnings in the last fiscal, with USA, EU, South East Asia, and Japan being the largest export markets in that order for India.
Among shrimp exports, cultured shrimp contributed to 73.31 per cent of our total shrimp exports.
