NFDB honours Odisha’s shrimp farmer

NFDB honours Odisha’s shrimp farmer
National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) has honoured Odisha’s shrimp farmer, Anjan Dandapat for successfully implementing scientific practices in shrimp farming

Anjan Dandapat, a progressive and innovative brackish water farmer from Balasore, Odisha, who adopted a technology developed by ICAR-Central Institute Brackishwater Aquaculture, (CIBA) Chennai in the farming of desi shrimp (Penaeus indicus), has recently been awarded with “Best Brackishwater Shrimp Farmer – Coastal States 2018” by National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries (DADF), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India in Visakhapatnam.

Dandapat hails from Sahada, in Balasore District, Odisha is one of the progressive farmer practicing scientific farming of shrimp under the guidance of CIBA. Dandapat is engaged in shrimp farming for last 20 years with commitment for sustainable and environmental friendly farming. He in partnership with CIBA has obtained a production of 3 to 6.5 tonnes per hectare of shrimp. Apart from scientific shrimp culture, the farmer is practicing diversified and sustainable polyculture practices with economically important finfishes like Etroplus and Bekti through scientific interventions and modifications. Dandapat farm is a sustainable model for scientific shrimp culture using the desi shrimp such as indicus, which has potential to duplicate, across the Indian coastal states.

E. Ramesh Kumar, Joint Secretary of DADF, presented the award in the presence of Rani Kumudini, IAS, The Chief Executive of the NFDB, at the function organised at Visakhapatnam, on the eve of National Fish Farmers Day on July 10, 2018.

Since 2010, shrimp culture in India has shifted to farming of an exotic American white shrimp, Peneaus vannamei. This selective breed and specific pathogen free (SPF) vannamei from USA almost replaced our native aquaculture species such as P. monodon, and P.indicus. Later rapid expansion and intensive farming of vannamei without proper scientific management practices lead to outbreak of diseases resulting in crop failures, making the farming outcome an unsustainable one. In this backdrop CIBA proposed and promoted the farming of native Indian whit shrimp, P. indicus, as a complementary species, for farming, in the place of P. vannamei. The diversification of farming using the desi shrimp has been conceived by CIBA as a “Make in India” programme among Indian shrimp farmers.

Through an NFDB funded project, CIBA demonstrated P. indicus culture technology for both small and large scale farming with Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), along the six coastal states of India.

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