ICAR-Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA), Chennai, in association with a leading world re-insurance company the Willis Towers Watson organized an international webinar on the reintroduction of shrimp crop insurance in India on 10th August 2021. India is the second largest producer and number one exporter of farmed shrimp in the world. Shrimp crop insurance existed during early 90s, was withdrawn after the dreaded White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) disease devastated shrimp farming in India. After the introduction of Specific Pathogen Free Pacific White Shrimp (Penaeus vannamei), the farmers have increased the shrimp production from about 1.41 lakh tonnes in 2011 to 8.44 lakh tonnes in 2021, a quantum jump of 608%. At present, shrimp exports bring in Rs. 32520 crores of foreign exchange, next to rice exports mostly of basmati variety. Dr. K.P. Jithendran, Director, CIBA, gave an overview of Indian shrimp aquaculture and the potential for aquaculture insurance in India. Dr. T. Ravisankar, Principal Scientist, CIBA, presented a landscape analysis of market potential and insurance opportunities on Indian shrimp aquaculture. Further in the technical session, the scope for introducing ‘affinity insurance’ with the involvement of hatchery and feed mill industry partners and merits and demerits of ‘indemnity’ and ‘parametric’ insurance schemes were discussed in detail. Industry presentations were made by Willis Tower Watson and Aquaconnect group. A panel discussion on “Indian aquaculture insurance from a reinsurance perspective” was conducted as a plenary. Panelists from the insurance sector representing M/s. Swiss Re, Hannover Rück SE – India Branch, AXA Climate, Qatar Reinsurance Company Limited, and Liberty Mutual participated. Heads and Unit in-Charges from ICAR-CIBA participated in the meeting along with representatives from the insurance and reinsurance sectors. The Institute Technology Management Unit (ITMU) of the institute coordinated the programme.
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