Outlook 2024: India needs to develop its domestic market and reduce its dependency on exports, says producer
This year saw production plummet for one of the world's biggest shrimp producing countries. Now it must find a way forward.
The Indian shrimp farming industry, one of the largest exporters to the critical US shrimp market, has had a difficult year.
Farming costs have sky rocketed and a failure to sell post-pandemic inventory by American retailers stalled the market for much of 2023.
It led to many of India's shrimp farmers shifting species or shifting to new industries entirely and a fall of around 20-25 percent in India's shrimp production.
For the thought leaders in the sector, it has been a year of promoting change in order to find ways forward.
Here, Manoj Sharma, CEO of Indian shrimp producer Maybank Aquaculture and president of the state aquaculture association in Gujarat, one of India's largest shrimp farming regions, takes a look back at 2023, and offers his best predictions for what lies ahead in the coming year.
What lessons will you take away from 2023?
Post-COVID things in the shrimp farming industry the world over are down and there is a low mood, especially amongst farmers.
As a farmer with three decades of experience, I understand very well that I need to be very efficient in farm production to survive bad phases.
Farmers should learn to produce as per market with efficiency. Adapting to change is the key to survival.
Species diversification and crop rotation can be the new trend in aqua farming.
What changes and developments do you expect your business and the seafood industry to undergo in 2024?
Even the seafood industry and exporters have understood that too much export dependency is harmful to the shrimp sector, especially with Ecuadorian and Latin American shrimp production getting more and more each year.
India has a 1.4 billion person population, 70 percent of which is non-vegetarian. Domestic promotion and consumption is key to future success and sustainability for the aquaculture industry and India.
We all are hoping to develop the domestic market as well as new international markets to do well in the coming years.
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