Forty-year-old K. Edukondalu, an aquaculturist from Kothapatnam in Prakasam district, has reared white shrimp Penaeus vannamei with great hopes putting behind the bad memories of COVID-induced economic crisis.
But now, like fellow shrimp farmers in coastal Prakasam district, he is spending sleepless nights following the sudden decline in the prices for various counts for the export-oriented produce in a fortnight following the Russia-Ukraine war. The prices for their produce had come down by over ₹50 per kg for various counts in the last 15 days, explains Prakasam Farmers Association Secretary D. Gopinath.
A count of 100 that fetched ₹290 per kg a couple of weeks ago had come down to ₹240. The price for a count of 80 had fallen to ₹270 per kg from ₹330 per kg a few weeks earlier.
Moreover, the price of aqua feeds had gone up by ₹5,000 to ₹85,000 per tonne in the wake of the economic uncertainty.
“The manufacturers had jacked up the price of feed, the key farm input, citing raw material shortage. Now we are at our wits’ end guessing when the feed price will normalise,” said another farmer D. Venkatesan.
Aquaculture has always been an economic venture marked by fluctuating fortunes. During the pandemic, the shrimp farmers had cut down the production by about 25% fearing reduced demand. With the health situation normalising, they had decided to step up production anticipating good returns this year expecting increase in demand in the main shrimp-consuming countries including the U.S., China and Japan.
Problem of substandard seeds
However, the present economic uncertainty had come as bolt from the blue for the shrimp farmers who are also confronted with the problem of substandard seeds and diseases like Enterocytozoon Hepatopenaei (EHP) and White Feces Disease (WFD), he explained in a conversation with The Hindu. There is a need for developing local demand for shrimps to overcome the excessive dependence on overseas market, Mr. Gopinath said.
They are also worried about the market condition when the harvest of shrimp gathers momentum in a month or so, added Mr. Gopinath.
Govt. intervention sought
It was high time the Union and State governments intervened to ensure better price for the growers and regulate the prices of feed, said the shrimp farmers from the 10 coastal mandals who met here to take stock of the situation.
Adding to their woes of a section of shrimp farmers who have raised the vannamei variety in over 10,000 acres of assigned land as they are deprived of concessions extended by the governments to other sections of shrimp farmers. The State government should take back demolition notices served on such farmers and provide cultivators certificate to get institutional credit and power subsidy, Mr Gopinath said.
