Pravash Pradhan
In an effort to establish an assured domestic market and increase local consumption of shrimps, Savitri Shrimps has written to the Andhra Pradesh Government seeking permission to access agricultural market yards for retail selling of shrimps.
Prasad Raju Kanumuri, Managing Partner, Savitri Shrimps has submitted a proposal with Dr (Smt.) Poonam Malakondaiah, Special Chief Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Animal husbandry, Dairy Development, and Fisheries in this regard and sought permission to use the market yard as a single access point for selling live shrimps.
Talking to AQUAPOST, Prasad said, “During the lockdown period I had to incur huge losses. Like me, several farmers in the State had to panic harvest and distress sell shrimps during the April month. It is required to develop a strong domestic market network and increase local consumption”.
Recounting the losses due to lack of proper market network, he added, “I had to distress sell shrimps of 100 count size at rs 70 in a panic situation. It was below the production cost. However, the government fixed a minimum price. It took 15-20 days to stabilize the price. What a farmer needs now is immediate support to start preparations for the second culture. The government announcements are long term plans only. Farmers need a collateral-free loan of Rs300000 per acre to revive the shrimp industry. Also, we need to develop a strong domestic market to save farmers”.
Explaining his idea, Prasad said, “We have proposed to the State government to allow Savitri Shrimps access to the market yard. We will develop transportable refrigerators which can store shrimps for three days. We will develop a retail brand, and promote the same. We have requested the government to sell at Rayuth bazars or the proposed Janata bazars. Initially, we target to sell 50000 tons in a year which is about 12 % of the total production in the state. Also, we will help to stabilize the shrimp prices in the state”.
Dileep Kumar Monangi, MD, Vintak Bio-Solutions who was also present in a meeting with the government officers said, “We need to promote domestic consumption of shrimps in India. We need to develop a domestic market network. It will make shrimps available at a fair price to the local consumers. It will also help farmers to get a good price. The State Government is very much positive in this regard.”
Andhra Pradesh produces about 450000 tons of shrimps, out of which 90% are exported.
There are 196 principal market yards, 120 sub-market yards and 106 Rayuth Bazars in the state. Only 34 market yards are integrated with the e-national agricultural market platform (eNAM) in the country. Many of the market yards in the state are non-functional and are also seasonal in nature.
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