The ongoing agitation in the Seemandhra region over the carving of Telengana out of Andhra Pradesh is a serious threat to the shrimp industry as the coastal Andhra region has in the recent years emerged as the nerve-centre of aquaculture.
Disruptions in transportation and other hurdles have upset the flourishing shrimp industry, says A.J. Tharakan, who recently took over as the President of the Seafood Export Association India (SEAI).
“The Andhra troubles have seriously affected the functioning of shrimp farms, processing units and exporting houses,” Tharakan told
“Every aspect of the shrimp industry has been hit — shipments, feed supplies and production.” He is worried that the agitation would reverse the massive advances made by the shrimp industry in the past five years.
He noted that the vannamei shrimp farming had leapfrogged in Andhra Pradesh in the past three years. Production had gone up from 1 lakh tonnes to three lakh tonnes.
“We are aiming to increase the production to 5 lakh tonnes in a year,” he said. Tharakan noted that more than half of India’s seafood export earnings came from shrimp aquaculture. The seafood export sector, on the back of the shrimp industry, was hoping to increase exports to 5 billion dollars by 2016.
“The shrimp industry has been performing extremely well over the past three years,” he said.
“Shrimp is one export item that has registered impressive and consistent growth.” This was particularly important against the backdrop of the country’s widening current account deficit.
“Things are really looking up for the shrimp industry and everybody is gaining — the farmer, the dealer and the exporter.”
Tharakan pointed out that global demand was going up along with sharp rise in price. Because of the shrimp diseases in Thailand and Vietnam, there was a shortfall in global supply which was pushing up the demand and price of Indian shrimp.
The US is the largest export market for India.
The recent lifting by the US International Trade Commission of the countervailing duty imposed by the Department of Commerce on Indian shrimps (along with shrimps from other countries) would add to the competitiveness of the Indian produce on the US market.
He said in the past three years coastal Andhra farmers had taken to shrimp farming in a big way.
“Andhra’s enterprising shrimp farmers are now getting a decent price for their produce,” he said. A farmer could now get Rs 600 a kg of shrimp; this was up from Rs. 300 two years back. As a result, more farmers were opting for the vannamei shrimp. Farmers in Orissa, West Bengal and Gujarat were following suit.
“But I am afraid the agitation will hurt the growth of the shrimp industry,” Tharakan said.