Shrimps
Shrimp Culture
Area and Production
India is endowed with a long coastline and hence offers scope for large exploitation of marine wealth. Till a few years back, fishermen in India were involving themselves in traditional marine fishing. In the seventies fishermen started concentrating on catching prawns more commonly known as `shrimps' due to high profitable return on the same on account of their export value. Brackish water prawn farming started in a big way during 91-94 especially in the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
The estimated brackish water area suitable for undertaking shrimp cultivation in India is around 11.91 lakhs ha spread over 10 states and union territories viz; West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Of this only around 1.2 lakhs ha are under shrimp farming now and hence lot of scope exists for entrepreneurs to venture into this field of activity. The following table gives the state-wise potential and present level of development.
Statewise shrimp farming area and production in India
| Sr. | State | Estimated brackish water area (ha.) | Area under cultivation (ha.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Bengal | 405,000 | 34,660 |
| 2 | Orissa | 31,600 | 11,000 |
| 3 | Andhra Pradesh | ||
| 4 | Tamil Nadu | 150,000 | 50,000 |
| 5 | Pondicherry | 800 | 37 |
| 6 | Kerala | 65,000 | 14,657 |
| 7 | Karnataka | 8,000 | 3,500 |
| 8 | Goa | 18,500 | 650 |
| 9 | Maharashtra | 80,000 | 716 |
| 10 | Gujarat | 376,000 | 884 |
| Total | 1,190,000 | 118,983 | |
