FEATURE
S
by Dr B Laxmappa, India duration, the production of this species has reached to a level of 406,044 tonnes during 2015–16. Very recently, L. vannamei culture is also started in freshwater ponds particularly in Telangana State and some other states in India by the stocking of PLs acclimatising to zero ppt salinity at hatchery level. The culture and production level is encouraging. Brackish water aquaculture is mainly concentrated on the coasts of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Orissa and West Bengal in India. With regards to the market, while the main areas of consumption for freshwater fish are in West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and northeastern India. Cultured brackish water shrimps are destined mainly for export. Among the coastal states, West
hrimp farming is a multi-billion dollar industry contributing a major income to several countries in Asia and South America. India as the second largest country in aquaculture production in the World, the share of brackish-water sector includes culture of shrimp varieties mainly, the native giant tiger prawn, Penaeus monodon and exotic white-leg shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei. Today, L. vannamei is the most extensively farmed crustacean species in the World.
Culture Status
Brackish-water aquaculture in India is concentrated around the giant tiger prawn (P. monodon) as the single most important species. Recently, the culture of exotic, white-leg shrimp, L. vannamei, however, has attracted the farmers’ attention because of its fast growth, low incidence of native diseases, availability of Specific Pathogen Free (SPF) domesticated strains and culture feasibility in wide salinity range. With the production levels of 10–12 tonnes/ha/ crop of three to four months’
Table 1: State-wise Tiger Shrimp production in India from 2010-11 to 2015-16 Sl. No.
State
1
West Bengal
Year-wise production (MT) 2010-11
2011-12
2012-13
2013-14
2014-15
2015-16
40725
45999
52581
53049
53526
61998
2
Orissa
7520
10901
14096
11075
10075
9191
3
Andhra Pradesh
49030
51081
25948
2883
2962
3739
4
Tamil Nadu & Pondicherry
4020
12097
17220
916
73
1103
5
Kerala
8075
8138
5175
3360
3643
3490
6
Karnataka
2090
609
180
56
498
682
7
Goa
320
51
48
14
16
0
8
Maharashtra
1120
1721
2010
1083
177
6
9
Gujarat Total
5675
4869
6045
4362
2185
1243
118575
135466
123303
76798
73155
81452
Source: MPEDA, Kochi
20 | October 2017 - International Aquafeed