A PCSIR (Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) scientist, Dr Razia Sultana, has said that shrimp farming could not be developed due to lack of basic infrastructure facilities and government and institutional support to prospective farmers.
Talking to Business Recorder on Monday she said that basic facilities, like electricity, fresh water supply, seawater supply, transportation, telecommunication and security along the coastal areas should be provided. The most important among all is the provision of a feeder canal to supply seawater to shrimp farms above the inter-tidal level, as only inter-tidal areas are suitable for extensive type of shrimp farming.
Extensive farming ponds are generally of enclosure type, where water is trapped at high tide. In such type of farming the investment cost on pond making is low and there is no need of water management and no supplemental feeding and high risk.
The number of shrimps grown in one-hectare pond is 5000 to 10,000 and, in turn, the production is low ie, 100-500 kg per hectare per year, which is a small quantity if compared to 1000-4000 in semi-intensive and 4000-15,000 in intensive type of farming.
The semi-intensive type involves high investment cost, high pond management, supplemental feeding, aeration etc, which results in more produce. Further, high capital costs are involved in intensive type of shrimp farming system with highly sophisticated pond management, under completely controlled environmental conditions. The construction of semi-intensive ponds in inter-tidal areas is an expensive option and creates problems of seepage and inundation of seawater at high tides during monsoon.
Moreover, the repair and maintenance costs are also high because of damage caused at high tides. Even in the creeks, in most cases, it is not feasible to directly pump the water from creeks.
The PCSIR scientist said that to make shrimp farming operation economically viable, it is indispensable to provide the above mentioned facilities at two to three selected areas along the Sindh and Balochistan coast and allot the land above inter-tidal zone along both sides of a feeder canal (for supply of seawater) to shrimp farmers. These selected localities/areas might be considered as tax-free zone for some years, she added.
She said that shrimp farming could be developed but the government has done nothing for the betterment of this sector. Even then the picture is not so bleak and one cannot talk about complete failure of shrimp farming, since it has not yet been initiated on a commercial scale.
She said that Pakistan's climate is suitable for shrimp farming, and if the government is serious to give a boost to shrimp production then development of basic infrastructure is a must. In this connection the government should carry out a study and announce the land allotment policy involving re-allotment of land to prospective farmers in designated areas after development of infrastructure.
This is necessitated as previously allotted marginal lands have been submerged in water at many places as a result of rise in sea level and seawater intrusion.
Institutional support is another aspect, which is lacking. Financial institutions should provide soft loans to shrimp farmers and R&D organisations should provide technical know-how for shrimp farming.
She suggested that there should be co-operation and co-ordination between different government organisations working on shrimp farming, like Marine Fisheries Department (MFD), Sindh Fisheries Department, PCSIR Labs Complex, Karachi, and National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) with each other. There is a duplication of efforts, which should be avoided and different components of shrimp farming may be worked out at different organisations with mutual consent. For this purpose a 'national study group' on shrimp farming may be constituted.
About the history of shrimp farming, Dr Razia said that efforts to develop shrimp farming in the Indus Delta were initiated in 1980 when the government of Sindh allotted the coastal marginal land to about 85 parties, without any infrastructure. She said that Lever Brothers, Aqua World, Baloch Farms and a few others had started shrimp farming projects during late 1980s and early 90s. These parties at that time were importing shrimp seed and feed from Malaysia and only the grow-out phase was started.
She said that there was no commercial or experimental hatchery. The non-availability of seed shrimps, commercial feed, fresh water, electricity and security measures all these factors together contributed later to halting the shrimp farming activities.
She said that many intending shrimp investors had visited PCSIR in 1980s to inquire about the possibility of getting shrimp seed and feed. PCSIR had provided the shrimp feed on experimental basis as a client-oriented, demand-led activity and also run the field trials with private parties. PCSIR have also rear seed shrimps at experimental scale.
She said that now there is a hope for dependable supply of seed shrimps from the recently established hatcheries--one by Sindh Fisheries Department at Hawkes Bay, and the other by National Institute of Oceanography, in Sonmiani (Balochistan). The problem of availability of shrimp feed on commercial scale is still unsolved, though the formulation, technical know-how and feed analysis facilities are available with PCSIR.
Dr Razia said that PCSIR is presently engaged in culturing live feed for shrimps ie, 'Artemia cyst and biomass'. Artemia cyst is basically used as live feed for the larvae in crustaceans (shrimp, crab and lobster), and fish hatcheries and farms are an indispensable component for a hatchery. It is being used in most hatcheries all over the world and is also used for fundamental biological research.
Artemia biomass (adult) is being used for feeding the juvenile shrimp at grow-out stage, which is more nutritive than supplement feeds with an added advantage of zero or no pollution. In Thailand, Artemia biomass is being sold as a commercial product to shrimp farmers at $5 per kg.
Replying to a question Dr Razia said that PCSIR had initiated the Artemia project in July 2004 and now it is able to produce Artemia cyst and biomass for different stages of shrimp farming. Production of Artemia cyst and biomass on a semi-pilot scale would be started soon in the coastal areas. The technology has been developed and commercial viability will be studied on semi-pilot scale. The cost of one kilogram of Artemia cyst presently is around Rs 6000-8000 in the local market and $100 in international market.
She said that Artemia grows in high salinity areas and Pakistan's atmosphere is suitable for Artemia. She added that Artemia cyst could possibly be exported to Bangladesh, which needs at least 94 tons Artemia cyst annually for shrimp farming.
She said that Artemia cyst could not be developed in Bangladesh due to longer rainy season and heavy rains and prevalence of low salinity, as high salinity is a prerequisite for Artemia culture.
She said that PCSIR was the first organisation to work on production of Artemia cyst and biomass. She said that Thailand, Brazil and Vietnam are already culturing Artemia cyst.
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