COST EFFECTIVE INDIGENOUS SHRIMP FEED ‘VANAMI PLUS’ FOR SUSTAINABLE SHRIMP FARMING

India continues to be the second largest farmed aquatic animals producing country with an annual production exceeding 5.0 million tonnes (MMT) of finfish, crustaceans and molluscs. India's industrially produced feed has  grown to a tune of 2 to 2.3 MMT in the year 2018, in which the share of shrimp feed alone is 1.4 MMT. The principal classes of feed ingredients of Indian aquafeed basket can be classified as fish meal and other marine protein sources, vegetable protein sources and cereals and its by-products.  Usage of fishmeal in formulations in shrimp feed  has been substantially reduced compared to the earlier days . Indian Council of Agricultural Research- Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (ICAR-CIBA) as nodal agency in research and development of coastal aquaculture is involved in developing indigenous aqua feed technologies for different life stages of fish and shrimp and successfully commercialized the cost effective shrimp feed Vanami ^Plus. Extensive research has been carried out to reduce the cost of feed through newer and sustainable feed ingredients

Indian aquafeed sector judiciously manages the fishmeal trap to ensure sustainable aquaculture.  The strategies adopted are use of by product fish meal from the processing wastes, mantis shrimp, steam sterilised shrimp head, sun dried low value fish and sergisted shrimp. Soybean meal is the principal plan ingredient for aqua feeds. India being a major agriculture based economy; there are plenty of ingredient resources spread across the country in a patchy manner. An array of  other important plant protein sources available for feed usage viz., ground nut cake, cottonseed meal,  sesame cake, mustard/rape seed cake,  sunflower cake meal, coconut cake, corn gluten meal and rice gluten. Energy sources such as  wheat, rice, maize, sorghum and other millets are available for use in aqua feeds.Rice bran and wheat bran  heat bran are conventionally used in aqua feed. The newer and novel resources have been explored by CIBA for its nutritional potency for use in aqua feeds and paved the way for cost effective feed for shrimp and this approach would help in making the Indian aqua feed industry as a sustainable one in the longer run.