Andhra Pradesh is India’s top state for shrimp farming. The year of 2022, a challenging year for the Indian shrimp industry, is ending with the lowest price record. Though outside of Andhra Pradesh, shrimp price are little higher for most of the counts, according to Aquaconnect.
Manoj Sharma, general manager of Gujarat-based farm Mayank Aquaculture said, it is 32% lower than in the same period of last year.
The price issue has hit India’s shrimp farming industry in the second half of 2022. Situation turns out to be severe, even with the local government initiatives to decrease the feed price by setting it to a minimum range.
An empowered committee was constituted in Andhra Pradesh on 14th October 2022 to sort out issues related to the aquaculture sector, mainly supply of feed, feed rate, and purchase rates. It announced it would lower the cost of feed inputs by INR 2.60–2.80/kg ($0.03/kg) and set a minimum price of INR 240 ($2.90)/kg for 100-count shrimp to reduce the market’s ongoing decline.
Most recent published data of “pricing” by Aquaconnect and Aqua Exchange suggests that the committee’s efforts have yet to achieve an apparent success, most of the counts have “rates” way below than the average for the season.
According to Sheraz Anwar, director of Abad Fisheries, Vannamei prices have been declining from mid-September as Ecuador was pumping every market already suffering from high stock.
Now in the current situation, farmers are totally disregarded. Every party attempts to buy shrimps for less. When a crop is lost, nobody sheds a tear. No crop insurance exists. There is no initiative to save them from imminent extinction. They have no access to loans, and the financiers who act as intermediaries charge them high-interest rates.
With the unexpected decline in the shrimp price of Andhra Pradesh, farmers are facing a loss of Rs. 1 lakh per acre; nevertheless, the cost of cultivation has also gone up in the last 3 years.
According to the latest data, Andhra Pradesh has been generating about 6.34 million tons of shrimp annually. The decrease in demand for shrimp from importing nations has caused a dip in production prices. For the past months, the issue has continued. Market prices for shrimp have decreased by at least Rs 100 per kilo. In order to compensate for the fall in exports, traders have also started buying at reduced prices.
The winter crop stocking has been adversely affected by lower farmgate prices. Farmers are incredibly concerned by the rapid escalating production costs and decline in farmgate prices. If the scenario persists, it will affect the summer crop stocking.
The smaller 60-100 count shrimp are currently the most popular. Increased export from Ecuador along with recession in USA and Europe lead to a minimal demand situation for importing large count shrimp at this moment.
Gujarat, another shrimp farming state in India, has reportedly continued to decline over the past four weeks. According to Aquaconnect, Gujrat produced shrimps are now available for as low as INR 350/Kg for 30 counts, INR 300/kg for 40 counts, INR 260/kg for 60 counts, INR 220/kg for 80 counts, and INR 200/kg for 100 counts of the most miniature shrimp.
It is evidently clear that the next 12 months or maybe more, are going to be very challenging for the Indian shrimp industry. Especially for Gujarat, considering that farmers in Andhra Pradesh may still produce 60 to 70 counts, which is close to breaking even or earning even 10 to 20%. Gujarat imports a bunch of other stuff, particularly seed, feed, and health products, and since COVID, input costs, particularly for feed, have increased by 27%.
As they have been for the majority of this year, India’s farmgate prices for medium-sized, 60-count shrimp remain significantly lower than those of fellow Asian suppliers Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia.
Tariq Iqbal
Khulna, Bangladesh
