Bhubaneswar: ICAR-Cental Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Bhubaneswar is the leading institution in the country for freshwater aquaculture research & development. The institute has developed a selectively bred, genetically improved and fast-growing strain of giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii registered as ‘CIFA-GI ScampiTM’. Through a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), today (04.10.21) the improved seeds were provided to three commercial hatcheries for brooder development & further dissemination to the farmers.
India was a major producer of this Scampi till 2005, however since then use of poor-quality seed by the farmers resulted in smaller harvest size and low survival in grow out ponds and poor returns to the farmers, which led to the decline in the production. In order to revive the farming of scampi ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (ICAR-CIFA) in collaboration with the WorldFish (an international research organization headquartered in Malaysia) has started a systematic selective breeding programme for improving the growth rate of M. rosenbergii in 2007. The base population with wide genetic base for the selective breeding was formed using populations of scampi from three geographically distant locations in India (Gujarat, Kerala and Odisha). The new developed strain has got a registered trademark as ‘CIFA-GI Scampi’ in 2020.
Recently, the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Govt of India, through the Pradhan Mantru Matsya Sampada Yojana sanctioned ICAR-CIFA with a central sector scheme on ‘Scaling up of genetic improvement programme of M. rosenbergii”. Under this project, ICAR-CIFA has selected three scampi hatcheries in Andhra Pradesh as multiplier units of the improved breed of scampi CIFA-GI Scampi through Expression of Interest and on-site inspection of all hatcheries).
ICAR-CIFA has signed MoU with the selected three-multiplier scampi hatcheries on 4 October 2021. ICAR-CIFA shall also be providing brood seed of ‘CIFA-GI Scampi’ to the selected hatcheries for brood raising and seed production in the upcoming season. “It is expected that the selected scampi hatcheries will produce large quantities of improved seed ‘CIFA-GI Scampi’ for supply to farmers across India which in turn help in higher production and income for farmers” said Dr Saroj Kumar Swain, Director, ICAR-CIFA. Shri Sagar Mehra, Joint Secretary, Dept of Fisheries, MoFAHD in his virtual address applauded CIFA for the accomplishment and motivated the hatchery owners to produce quality seed to revive the scampi farming in India.
Dr Bindu R.Pillai, HoD, Aquaculture Production and Environment Division & Principal Investigator of the PMMSY Scampi project and her team arranged for the MoU signing programme.
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