ICAR-CIBA signed MoU with Westland Marine Private Limited, Nellore, for the technology transfer of “Indigenous formulated shrimp feed” developed by CIBA, for the sustainable shrimp farming, Chennai, 27th August 2016

The increasing cost of formulated shrimp feed is a growing concern in sustainable farming because it drives the cost of production upwards and decreases the profit margin for the farmers. ICAR-CIBA has developed cost-effective and quality feed using indigenous feed ingredients for vannamei farming, the ‘Vannameiplus’. The technology is being transferred to a series of private entrepreneurs for upscaling and commercial production on a non-exclusive basis. As a new addition to the list, on 27th August 2016, ICAR-CIBA signed a MoU with Dr Manoj Kumar Reddy, Westland Marine Private Limited, Nellore for transfer of shrimp feed technology. Westland marine is into aquaculture since the late 1980s and doing shrimp farming in about 100 acres of water spread area in and around Gudur division of Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh. The company envisage to use ‘Vannameiplus’ of CIBA in their own farms and also to supply the small and medium-size farmers in their close locality which is expected to have an impact on the local farming community by reducing the cost of production of shrimp.
This MoU event was presided by Dr K.K. Vijayan, Director, ICAR-CIBA. On his opening remarks, Dr K.K. Vijayan indicated the effectiveness of Vannameiplus in bringing down the cost of shrimp production and increasing the profitability of shrimp farming. He also stressed the need for spreading this cost-effective feed technology to more number of Indian farming community, and to make the shrimp farming a sustainable enterprise in this country. Dr.K. Ambasankar Principal Scientist and SIC, Nutrition Group briefed about the technical part of feed formulation and manufacturing and the various activities proposed under this programme.
Earlier in this event, Dr T. Ravisankar Principal Scientist and SIC, ITM-ABI Unit welcomed the clients and introduced them to the audience. All the Nutrition scientists team, all Heads of Divisions, a team from Westland Marine Private Limited and ITM-ABI unit members attended this event. In the end, Dr P.K. Patil proposed the vote of thanks.