How India's shrimp exports beat back the challenge from US tariffs

India's shrimp exporters are countering US tariffs by boosting shipments to new markets, backed by strong aquaculture growth, technology upgrades and government support

India’s export-oriented shrimp industry seems set to convert the challenge from the punitive tariffs imposed by the United States (US), the largest importer, into an opportunity. This is by diversifying its export destinations and increasing shipment to non-US markets. Appreciable headway has, in fact, already been made in this direction. Exporters anticipate that the losses suffered due to a sharp decline in supplies to the US, as a result of the cancellation of orders after the tariff increase in August, are likely to be recompensed to a large extent by higher exports to countries like China, Vietnam, Belgium, Russia, Canada, and the United Kingdom (UK). Besides, the supplies of shrimp (also called prawns) to traditional markets, such as the European Union, Japan, and West Asia, are expected to hold steady.   

According to industry sources, exports this financial year to non-US markets witnessed around a 30 per cent surge in value. This has helped India maintain its flagship position in the international shrimp bazaar. Export prospects remain upbeat, thanks to firm global demand, the competitiveness of Indian prawns in terms of both quality and pricing, and strong government backing. The continuous upgrade of indigenous technology for shrimp farming has also played a significant role in sustaining India’s predominance in the global shrimp sector. 

India has, for long, been the world’s leading producer and exporter of shrimps, accounting for nearly one-sixth of global output and over one-fifth of international trade. However, Ecuador has caught up with it in recent years, and is now giving it a tough competition in export. But experts on fisheries are confident that India would manage to regain top position, notwithstanding stagnation in marine catches, because of robust growth in shrimp aquaculture and greater emphasis on the value-addition of export-bound products. Shrimps now comprise close to 70 per cent of the country’s export in seafood. 

Though commercial-scale shrimp farming began in India in the late 1980s, when demand for this premium fish species began to look up in the international market, it got a fillip in 2009 because of two factors. First, domestic production in major shrimp-producing and -consuming countries then — like China, Thailand, and Vietnam — sharply plummeted due to the outbreak of the early mortality syndrome disease in their black tiger shrimp farms. And second, the Indian government allowed the introduction of a “new” variety of shrimps called Vannamei (whiteleg tiger shrimp), which enjoyed several advantages over the traditionally cultivated blackleg tiger shrimp. The most significant among these included relatively high immunity against diseases and a lower feed requirement, which meant substantially lower production costs and larger profits. Vannamei also fetched premium prices in the export market. Unsurprisingly, therefore, Vannamei farming spread rapidly, and this became the main cultivated species across the shrimp-producing regions in just a decade. It now accounts for nearly two-thirds of the country’s shrimp output, and the bulk of the shrimp exports. 

The technological support provided to shrimp farmers, processors, and exporters by fisheries research centres has played a significant role in bringing about the shrimp revolution. The conventional methods of shrimp farming have been replaced by novel, high-tech, cost-effective, and sustainable shrimp-growing systems. These new techniques facilitated a higher yield of marketable produce from less space, and with a lower cost, to enhance the net profitability of shrimp cultivation. 

The innovative “super-intensive precision shrimp farming system”, evolved by the Chennai-based Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture, can be a case in point. It involves culturing prawns in circular tanks lined with polythene sheets, using digital tools like larval feeding and waste management based on internet of things and artificial intelligence (AI). It has the potential to yield as much as 100 to 120 tonnes of shrimp per hectare of water. It also uses AI to monitor and control diseases, thereby minimising the risk of drug residues in prawns, and boosting their export worthiness. Notably, the shrimps produced with this technique have been found to have a relatively good texture, colour, and taste. Besides, this method allows farmers to plan their production in accordance with the projected demand in local and export markets. 

The Centre and the governments of coastal states have launched schemes to promote scientific shrimp farming. Liberal financial and other kinds of incentives are being offered to shrimp farmers for adopting advanced technology under the Centre’s umbrella fisheries development programme called the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana. Besides, government agencies like the Marine Products Export Development Authority and the Coastal Aquaculture Authority are helping in prospecting, and gainfully tapping, new export markets, and looking after regulatory matters. However, the bigger issues concerning trade barriers, such as the US tariffs, arbitrarily fixed quality standards, and consignment rejections on frivolous grounds by importers like the European Union, need to be addressed by the government to let the shrimp sector withstand escalating rivalries in international trade.

surinder.sud@gmail.com