The government of India has agreed to allow the farming of the new species of shrimp, Vannamei, to be started by April-May. For the last two years the government has been dilly-dallying on the idea of introducing Vannamei culture as some of the ministers had concerns regarding the new species.
But now the ministry is ready to announce the date of Vannamei farming as the commerce ministry is strongly backing the long-pending demand of the shrimp exporters of India. According to the ministry of agriculture green signal has been given to two pilot projects in Andhra Pradesh, which are doing well with Vannamei farming for the last two years.
The advantage of Vannamei farming is that it has low production cost, comparatively better resistant to diseases and high stocking densities. But the major concerns regarding Vannemei farming has come from the export sector and various other agencies. According to them the indiscriminate and inadequately-controlled import of Vannamei broodstock could result in the spread of TVS Virus, thus affecting the present Monodon aquaculture production.
India is in great need of expanding its shrimp exports because in 2007 it was dropped drastically due to the advent of Vannamei shrimp in markets such as the US.
