In 2007 the world will produce 12% more shrimp than it did in the previous year. This
increase in production, changing cultural practices, price pressures and the increasing
cost of production have made shrimp farming more challenging than it used to be.
It has now become vitally important for shrimp farmers to get maximum value from
their farms by improving survival, increasing yield and producing larger-sized healthy
animals that fetch a better price.
“The shrimp farmer is getting squeezed, and even more so when his crop is hit with
disease,” says Sameera Gujarathi, Business Manager for Aquaculture, Asia Pacific, at
Novozymes. “Good pond management is very important for shrimp farmers, and that’s
why Novozymes’ PondPlus and PondProtect® are gaining market recognition in Asia.”
Better pond with fewer chemicals
Proper pond management can help control disease, and a healthier shrimp means
a better yield. Microbial biology offers an alternative to chemicals and antibiotics; and
with PondPlus and PondProtect, farmers can get proper pond management with natural
resources.
PondProtect is a nitrifier consisting of an ammonia and a nitrite-oxidising strain, and
it is highly effective at controlling ammonia and nitrite, which can build up and make a
pond unsuitable for healthy shrimp growth.
PondPlus is a Bacillus consortium of seven specifically selected bacterial strains; it has a broad range of waste-degrading enzymatic activity and helps clarify water.
PondPlus helps control critical nutrient levels in the pond, including nitrate. This creates a better balance with essential phytoplankton, helps avoid destructive ‘blooms and crashes’, and ensures a consistently healthy ‘green water’colour. PondPlus can also remove pondbottom sludge caused by the accumulation of organism waste matter.
“PondPlus cleaned out my severely damaged pond bottom,” says Atal Rout, who does semi-intensive farming in Orissa, India.
PondPlus helps farmers by reducing the build-up of black soil, giving good colour
to the pond and ensuring a stable bloom of phytoplankton.
Certain bacteria in PondPlus form ‘bioflocs’ around uneaten feed and organic
wastes, and help convert this to usable food for the shrimp. This helps in reducing
the feed conversion ratio. Due to the benefits that PondPlus offers, the shrimp are on average about 10% larger in size, and the animal looks better, which means that farmers using PondPlus can potentially get a better price for their product.
“This is a high-level product,” says Chen Zhou Yu, a farmer in China. “Other products
were unstable and over-stated their advantage.”
PondPlus is preferred over competitor products in Asia because of its stability
and ease of use. Similar microbial products available in Asia are unable to safeguard
the pond against phytoplankton crashes, which lead to the need for early harvest
and poor pond bottom conditions - problems that do not occur with PondPlus.
“I will continue to use PondPlus because it maintains the bloom through the
whole crop and maintains the condition of the pond bottom after the crop,” says
Kantibhai, a medium-sized farmer from Gujarat, India.
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Dr Pornlerd Chanratchakool (left) and Dr Dave Drahos discussing shrimp health problems at a farm in Thailand. |
What are they saying about PondPlus?
In a previous article in the March 2006 edition of Bio Times, Novozymes declared
its dedication to develop new products that can help aquaculture and test existing
products. In this regard, Novozymes collected feedback on PondPlus from 125
shrimp farms with a total of 546 ponds in Thailand, India, China and Vietnam.
“The results were spectacular,” says Dr Pornlerd Chanratchakool, Technical
Manager for Aquaculture, Asia Pacific, at Novozymes. “81% of the ponds reported
good results, and 14% of the ponds
reported fair results with farmers saying
that they will continue to use PondPlus.”
Ponds treated with PondPlus showed an 18% increase in yield and a 22% improvement
in survival rate. The feed conversion ratio (FCR) dropped by 9%, which meant
that the farmers needed less feed to grow the same size shrimp.
Farmers are especially pleased with the ease of use that PondPlus offers. Another
concern for shrimp farmers that PondPlus alleviates is vibriosis, which is caused by
Vibrio spp - bacteria that can result in the death of almost 90% of a crop, with the
most significant impact on post-larvae and juvenile shrimp.
“There was a drastic reduction in Vibrio count,” says Nilesh Patel, a corporate farmer
in Gujarat, India. “We could see a visible difference in the nursery within 60 days of
using PondPlus.”
About 5% of the ponds that Novozymes received feedback about did not
benefit from PondPlus. Most of these ponds were in small-scale farms where
PondPlus had been used in the early part of the first crop. Overdosing of the product
caused phytoplankton crash, which led to increasing dead matter at the pond
bottom, creating anaerobic conditions in the pond and resulting in severe stress and
even mortality.
However, improved product application, timing and dosage information provided to
the farmers have resolved this matter. The second crop in the ponds where PondPlus
failed initially - even those that were infected with viral white spot disease - did
better because of PondPlus.
What’s next?
Though awareness of microbial products does exist in Asia, penetration of the
technology is limited due to lack of proof of performance - something that isn’t an
issue with the highly successful PondPlus.
However, dubious claims of products termed as ‘microbial’ have made some
farmers wary of all microbial products.
Novozymes brings scientific backing and a world-class reputation to an industry in a
region that is desperately seeking this new level of expertise. Novozymes is a biotech
world leader in microorganisms and is committed to biological solutions that can
enhance the aquaculture business.
“Currently, we have two microbial treatment products in shrimp and aquaculture
ponds,” says Dr Dave Drahos, R&D Manager for Aquaculture Business at
Novozymes.
“More exciting products are under development, one aimed at hydrogen sulphide
control and others providing a second generation of Bacillus strains to tackle a
broader range of aquaculture needs.”