India fetes first organic harvest at pilot scampi farms inKerala.

Title Annotation: QFFI's GLOBAL SEAFOOD MAGAZINE

Geographic Code: 9INDI

Date: Jan 1, 2009

Words: 401

Publication: Quick Frozen Foods International

ISSN: 0033-6416

Scientific shrimp farming continues to arouse controversies over environmental and social impacts aswell as food safety issues. Disease outbreaks in shrimp farms, especially white spot syndrome virus(WSSV), have cost Indian shrimp farms four to five billion rupees a year.

Shrimp farmers have taken recourse with antibiotics and other chemicals in their ponds. But now theMarine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), mindful of environmental concerns, hasimplemented an India Organic Aquaculture Project (IOAP) in collaboration with the Swiss ImportPromotion Program (SIPPO).

MPEDA's organic aquaculture program is getting its start in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh with organicscampi, and in due course the initiative will be expanded to other maritime states. Organic black tigershrimp will also be cultured. The first scampi harvests took place last November in Kuttanad, Kerala,where 340,000 seeds were stocked in 20 hectares of freshwater ponds last spring.

Compared to production of other foods such as fruits and vegetables, organic aquaculture is still in itsinfancy in India. Organic production worldwide is limited to a few species--primarily shrimp, salmon, troutand carp--which are produced mainly in Europe, South and Central America and in Asia. Organicproducts are generally offered in fresh and frozen forms with very few value-added products.

In India, organic fruits and vegetables have been developed for export to international markets. Recentlyinternational retail channels have foreseen great potential for other organic products, including seafoods.But standards for the production of organic shrimp and scampi are based on Indian farm conditions andother standards available.

The initial Kerala scampi farms, owned by four individuals, were inspected by INDOCERT, the nationalagency for certifying organics, and have been provided with certification of registration from Naturland--acertifying agency in Germany. The stocked scampi seeds in the nursery were fed with the organicscampi feed of starter grade--produced and supplied by The Waterbase Ltd., Nellore, AndhraPradesh--for a period of 45 days and later transferred to grow-out ponds, where grower and finishergrades of organic scampi feed were given.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

After a culture period of seven months, from the date of stocking in the nursery, harvest of the shrimpbegan November 1, in a function organized at the farm site, where S. Sharma, Kerala's Minister of Statefor Fisheries and Registration, inaugurated the world's first such harvest. MPEDA Chairman G. MohanKumar delivered the keynote address to mark the historic occasion.

India fetes first organic harvest at pilot scampi farms in Kerala. 1 of 2

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/_/print/PrintArticle.aspx?id=204683207 01-11-2010 PM 06:03

COPYRIGHT 2009 E.W. Williams Publications, Inc.

Copyright 2009 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

India fetes first organic harvest at pilot scampi farms in Kerala. 2 of 2

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/_/print/PrintArticle.aspx?id=204683207 01-11-2010 PM 06:03