Context: Recently, the Union Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairy Minister inaugurated and launched three national flagship programs .
About National Surveillance Programme on Fish Diseases:
It was launched as part of Phase II of the National Surveillance Programme for Aquatic Animal Diseases (NSPAAD) under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) programme.
About NSPAAD:
It is implemented by Department of Fisheries since 2013.
Its emphasis on strengthening farmer-based disease surveillance system, so that disease cases are reported at once, investigated and scientific support is provided to the farmers.
Report Fish Disease app was launched under the NSPAAD.
It aims to connect directly with the district fisheries officers and scientists for technical assistance regarding fish diseases and get a solution to the problem.
Need:
Fish Production in India: The third largest fish producing country with a fish production of 14.73 million metric tonnes.
India exports seafood to over 120 countries and is among the top 5 fish exporting countries in the world.
Nearly 16 % of the country’s agricultural exports constitute fish and fish products.
India is one of the largest exporters of farmed shrimps of around 7 lakh tonnes.
However, the country loses about 7200 crores annually due to diseases.
Early detection and managing the spread of diseases is considered crucial for controlling the diseases.
It will also decrease use of unnecessary fish drugs, which will increase the net profits of fish farmers.
Genetic Improvement Programme of Indian White Shrimp (Penaeus indicus) Phase I:
It was launched under the PMMSY to establish a National Genetic Improvement Facility for shrimp breeding.
Indian Council of Agricultural Research – Central Institute of Brackish water Aquaculture (ICAR- CIBA)(add full form) has taken up the genetic improvement of programme of Indian white shrimp, P. indicus as a national priority under the Make in India flagship program.
It aims to break this single species dependence and to promote indigenous species vis-à-vis exotic shrimp species.
CIBA has successfully optimized breeding protocol and demonstrated culture potential across different geographic location in coastal states using indigenous feed, indicus plus (35% Protein).
Significance:
The production from shrimp aquaculture increased from about 1 lakh tonnes in 1990 to more than 9 lakh tonnes in 2022.
The farmed shrimp alone contributes about 70% of India’s seafood exports worth Rs. 42000 crores.
However, the shrimp farming sector mostly depends on one exotic Specific Pathogen free stock of Pacific white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) species.
Shrimp Crop Insurance product:
ICAR-CIBA developed a Shrimp Crop Insurance product with the support of Alliance Insurance brokers which was filed with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) by Oriental Insurance Company Limited.
The product charges differential premium based on location and requirements of the individual farmer from 3.7 to 7.7 % of input costs.
Farmer will be compensated to the tune of 80 % loss of input cost in the event of total crop loss. i.e., more than 70% crop loss.
