A group of enterprising fish farmers in Punjab have extended the state’s shrimp farming calendar by successfully harvesting two shrimp crops a year, unlocking fresh income opportunities from the off-season.
What began as an experiment by a handful of growers in 2021 has, over the past five years, evolved into a proven farming model. Now in its sixth year, the practice has been endorsed as viable by the state fisheries department, encouraging more shrimp farmers to explore an additional annual harvest and maximise returns from saline and waterlogged fields, normally not fit for agriculture.
Traditionally, shrimp farming in Punjab, done on nearly 1,000 acres, was confined to a single production cycle between June and September.
Around six years ago, a handful of farmers experimented with beginning cultivation in February, harvesting the first crop in May, when shrimp is scarce in the market, and then raising a second crop during the conventional June-to-September season.
The initiative helped make productive use of months that had earlier remained idle and tap an additional source of income, while driving the state's annual shrimp production to 2,500-3,000 metric tonnes.
{{/usCountry}}The initiative helped make productive use of months that had earlier remained idle and tap an additional source of income, while driving the state's annual shrimp production to 2,500-3,000 metric tonnes.
{{/usCountry}}A 67-year-old Darshan Singh from Fazilka’s Bahadur Khera village said he switched to two shrimp harvest cycles in 2021 and the results were encouraging. He starts shrimp stocking for the first season in February and harvests in May and prepares ponds in June for stocking of the aqua crop seeds for the second season.
“I was cultivating malta, a variety of citrus fruit, until 2018 when the Punjab government started pushing for shrimp farming. I ventured into aquaculture on 5 acres and the results were overwhelming. I finally decided to gamble on harvesting shrimp twice a year and the results are highly remunerative,” he added.
Singh now has 25 acres under shrimp cultivation and says the average per-acre yield in the last six years remained 3-3.5 tonnes per acre in each season.
“This time, I sold my first crop produced in off-season May in the Delhi market for an average price of ₹400 per kg. In comparison, traders pay an average of ₹300 per kg for shrimp in September-October,” he said.
Another aquaculturist, Amarinder Singh from Bahadur Khera, said the shrimp produced in May had a ready market in Delhi. Even at the lower end, a single cycle can generate sales worth nearly ₹10-12 lakh per acre.
“After operational costs averaging around ₹6 lakh annually, profits come out to ₹6-7 lakh per acre every year,” said Amarinder, who turned to dual crop on 15 acres in 2022.
According to Maninder Singh Sidhu, a farmer from Enna Khera in Muktsar, shrimp cultivation has the potential to strengthen farmers economically. Backed by his wife, Rupinder Kaur, Sidhu said under favourable conditions, the shrimp grew to 30-35 grams in weight within 100-120 days (four months), making them ready for harvest.
“One acre can produce three 3 to 4 tonnes of shrimp in a single cycle. With two cycles annually, yearly production reaches 6 to 10 tonnes per acre,” he added.
Assistant director of the state fisheries department, Prabhjot Kaur, said the state government had been promoting shrimp farming since 2016 to boost farmer income.
“Several villages in south-west Punjab have saline underground water, which is not fit for agriculture. Also, waterlogging is a perennial issue in this belt. Therefore, shrimp farming was proposed as a solution for farmers whose land was lying unutilised. Now, farmers are setting a benchmark by going beyond the recommended time of stocking and harvesting and it is proving a success,” she added.