ICAR-Central institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture have developed a cleaned stock of Indian white shrimp (P.indicus) which is growing on par with P.vannamei shrimp for species diversification in shrimp farming. The cleaned broodstock bred indicus shrimp seeds were given to shrimp farmers to assess its production potential at farmers ponds under the “Genetic Improvement Programme of Penaeus indicus (GIPPI)”. An on-farm harvest of Indian white shrimp indicus was held on 14-12-2023 under the Matsya Sampada Jagrukta Abhiyan scheme at Kandagali village, Payyanur, Kannur District in Kerala. The indicus shrimp was stocked at a density of 30 post larvae per sq.m grow @ 0.24 gm per day and attained 18.5 gm in 93 days of farming with cost effective feed. The survival was around 90% with less external aeration support. Farmers who cultured it perceived that indicus shrimp is relatively better in resisting white faecal disease which is the devastating problem in shrimp farming as of now. The harvest was witnessed by the office bearers of Payyanur Municipality, Ms K V Lalitha, Chairperson, Mr Kunjappan, Joint Councilar, Shri.Pramod, Secretary, Kerala Aquafarmers Association, Dr. Kuldeep K. Lal, Director, Dr C P Balasubramanium, HoD Crustracean Culture Division, Dr A. Panigrahi, Principal Investigator, GIPPI Program, ICAR-CIBA, officials from Department of Fisheries, Kerala along with 107 shrimp farmers in the neighbourhood villages and the representatives from the agencies associated with shrimp farming sector.
