Launching of Desi brand of formulated shrimp feed for vannamei on PPP mode for shrimp farming sector developed by ICAR-CIBA at the Farmers meet at Bapatla, Andhra Pradesh.
Sri Prathipati Pulla Rao, Honounarble Minister for Agriculture, Animal Hubandry, Dairying and Fisheries, Government of Andhra Pradesh Commerically launched the “CIBA VannameiPLUS” feed, distributed Soil and water Health Cards, and released CIBA publications in the Brackishwater Aquaculture Farmers Meet organized by ICAR- Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture(CIBA),Chennai under National Innovations in Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) project on 04-02-2017 at Bapatla, Andhra Pradesh.
He appreciated the efforts taken by CIBA in developing the cost effective balanced shrimp feed Vannamei plus using indigenous ingredients with a cost of Rs.55-65 per kg in the context of ever increasing feed cost which accounts for 60-65% of the total production cost, the major constraint affecting the growth and profitability of the shrimp farming sector. He also thanked CIBA for transferring the Vannamei plus feed technology to progressive and leading shrimp farmer, Sri. M.Karuna Raju and Sri Krishnam Raju of M/s. Sai Aqua Feeds, Bapatla, Guntur, AP on PPP(Public-Private-Partnership) mode in order to bring down the feed cost and to increase the profitability to the shrimp farmers. He congratulated them for scaling up this technology and started the production of this cost effective feed and urged the farmers to use the desi technologies, for achieving sustainability n profit and production. He also appreciated the services of CIBA in issuing the Soil and Water Health Cards to about 80 shrimp farmers in the neighbourhood of Bapatla, that are useful for scientific adaptation measures to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change on aquaculture. At he event he has released a farmer-friendly publication entitled “Frequently Asked Questions Pertaining to Penaeusvannamei Shrimp Farming” and other publications on soil and water quality management, shrimp as health food, brought out by CIBA in English and Telugu languages to create an awareness among the farming community.
Dr.K.K Vijayan, Director, ICAR-CIBA in his introductory speech stressed the role of public private partnership in developing the indigenous technologies for the benefit of farmers and emphasized the need for promoting joint initiatives with research institutions such as CIBA, state government and the stake holders. Dr. J.K.Jena, Deputy Director General(Fisheries), ICAR, New Delhi in his presidential address highlighted the importance of aquaculture sector in providing the nutritional security to the ever increasing Indian population, and elaborated the role of Andhra Pradesh in aquaculture development both in freshwater and brackishwater sectors.
Source : Aqua Tech