The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) has culled L.Vannami shrimp broodstock worth more than US$5 million at its Brood Stock Multiplication Centre (BMC) in Visakhapatnam, because the Union Ministry for Agriculture did not grant permission for the sale of the stock in time.
Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Aquaculture (RGCA), a research unit of the MPEDA, is running the BMC and is supplying Specific Pathogen Free (SPF) stocks to registered hatcheries across the country. However, farmers are forced to depend on private unregistered hatcheries owing to the delay in granting of permission from the Centre.
MPEDA imports post larvae (PLs) from Oceanic Institute, Hawaii, USA and the BMC staff grow the PLs into SPF broodstock.
“We culled 8,000 L. Vannami brood stock recently. The RGCA staff usually raise the brood stock up to 40 grams and sell it to hatcheries to raise quality seed. But, due to the delay, shrimps have grown up to 75 grams each, which is not suitable for breeding,” explained MPEDA Deputy Director S. Kandan.
Some farmers say private and unauthorised hatchery owners wanted permission delayed to ensure smooth sale of their stocks which was not disease resistant.
[Source:The Hindu. Full article]
