Gadvasu

Mansa farmer harvest bumper crop of shrimp from salt affected land under guidance Vet Varsity

November 20

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Guru Angad Dev Veterinary & Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), Ludhiana is playing an instrumental role in developing aquaculture in salt affected waterlogged lands in the State. The R & D initiative of the university has succeeded in converting salt affected waste lands into gold mines through shrimp farming, which has made significant contribution in socio-economic development of the affected rural community. In last 2 years, area under shrimp farming in Punjab has increased to about 200 acres, under regular technology backup and monitoring from GADVASU scientists, comprising Dr. Prabjeet Singh, Dr Anuj Tyagi and Dr. Naveen Kumar B.T.

Vannamei shrimp is a high value export commodity, which has revolutionised aquaculture in the State. A single crop of vannamei give net profit of 3-4 lakhs/acre in a short period of 100- 120 days, which is unmatchable to any other farming system. Besides being highly remunerative, shrimp farming is also very expensive and highly risky, if not reared as per scientific recommendations. Hence, it is of utmost importance that farmers are trained to be skilled enough to manage their ponds scientifically for optimised production and profit. In this direction, GADVASU team is in constant touch with the shrimp farmers for guidance, surveillance and monitoring.  Most recently, farmer S. Harminder Singh from village Korvala, Distt Mansa was motivated by GADVASU to take up shrimp farming under complete supervision of the experts.  S. Harminder Singh was not only trained at individual level to take up best management practices for shrimp farming, but also provided complete health management inputs for producing high quality healthy shrimp. He started shrimp farming in an area of 5 acres and he harvested bumper crop of 8.36 tons (t) from 2.5 acres (market value 23.5 lakh), against an operating cost of Rs. 15.5 lakhs, thus resulting in an net profit of Rs. 8.00 lakhs/ha. The said success has fuelled many other farmers aspiring to take up shrimp farming in their salt affected waste lands.  About 1.51 lakh ha salt affected and waterlogged areas south west districts offers gigantic potential for developing shrimp farming in the State.

According to the scientists, it is vital to procure SPF (Specific Pathogen Free) shrimp seed (PL) only from Coastal Aquaculture Authority (CAA) approved hatcheries. Seed from any unreliable source increases the risk of disease outbreak many folds and can affect shrimp farming in the region leading into huge economic losses. They further informed that farmers need to assure that the seed they are purchasing has been screened for EHP, WSSV, IHHNV, MBV, AHPND and IMNV. Most recently GADVASU team detected EHP from shrimp farms of Punjab under NFDB funded National Surveillance Program for Aquatic Animal Diseases, which is an alarm to be very cautious about substandard seed influx in the State and needs to be monitored under scientific surveillance. 

To sensitize this issue, GADVASU is not only guiding the farmers to procure SPF seed, but are also sensitizing them of best management practices, including bio-security measures, water quality management, health management and monitoring, to produce quality shrimp of international standards.

Guidelines to follow

• Purchase SPF seed from CAA approved hatcheries – Screened for  EHP, WSSV, IHHNV, MBV, AHPND and IMNV
• Follow the recommended bio-security measures for prevention of pathogen carriers/vectors
• Regular management and monitoring of water quality and health status
• Report of disease outbreak incidents immediately and seek expert advice for control measure

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