Impact of shrimp farming technology for economic upliftment of rural societies in Inland saline areas of Punjab

Punjab is successfully moving towards ‘Blue revolution’, and has recorded a commendable progress in the fish farming.The inland saline areas of Punjab, Haryana and other states (previously considered as wastelands) have recently emerged as attractive destinations for Litopenaeus vannamei shrimp farming due to its high export potential and low salinity tolerance. A farmer S. Harminder Singh from Village Korvala, Mansa district of Punjab was motivated by College of Fisheries, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), Ludhiana to take up shrimp farming in his salt affected land. He was trained at individual level to take up shrimp farming. A pond of 2.5 acres area was stocked at the density of 50 post larvae (PL)/m². Regular water quality and health monitoring was done by the scientists from GADVASU besides time to time onsite visits for technical guidance. The farmer harvested a bumper crop of 8.36 tonnes from an area of 2.5 acres (market value 23.5 lakh), against an operating cost of Rs 15.5 lakhs in a culture period of 140 days, thus resulting in a net profit of Rs 8.00 lakhs/ha. The shrimp harvested had an average weight of 25±2 grams with an FCR of 1.25. The said success is attracting many farmers of the area to undertake shrimp farming, so it is recommended to strictly follow ‘Best Management Practices (BMPs), besides procuring seed from Coastal Aquaculture Authority (CAA) approved hatcheries with pathogen screening certificates. Strict adherence to BMPs and bio-security protocols is a way forward towards development of sustainable shrimp farming in Punjab.