The present trend is to focus on Vannamei prawn culture, process and export. Though it is flooding the international market now, we need to develop a fall back system when the going is good.
Thanks to Government of Odisha, the Fishery Department has already identified tilapia farming in Odisha. This can enrich the agriculture and the MSME sector’s both. But the biggest challenge of need based and timely funding must be resolved for successful implementation of tilapia farming, processing and exports.
India is geographically poised to be the world leader in the fisheries sector. Being the biggest peninsula in the world, with its vast coastline of 7,517 km and EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) of 200 nautical miles, network of lakes and rivers, including numerous inland water bodies, it can easily surpass any other nations in fish productions. The vast population of our country, especially the young generation in rural India, can be deployed in the fishing industries.
Over the years, exports of Indian seafood has been in the increasing trend with many Indian brands in the preferred list of Europe, America and other highly developed nations. The Indian seafood exports reached $5 billion in 2014.Besides exports, even domestically our fishing industry can contribute in building up a robust Indian economy.
The poverty stricken population in our country, largely suffering from protein deficiency, can find an income source and maintain healthy life as well. The nutrition value of fish and other marine products has been measured and proven to be one of the highest, as compared to any other commonly available food products.
The present market demand globally and also in India is for processed seafood. Once the source has been taken care of, processing and value addition can be carried out in MSME units across the country.
Ideally, we need to mainly focus and specialize on some high value species, climatically most adoptable for farming on the Indian soil and available in our EEZ, such as different varieties of tuna. Besides shrimp, we can introduce large scale tilapia farming across the country in a planned manner. In tilapia business anyone can make a six figure income and one doesn't need a university degree to do it.
The last three decades have seen significant developments in farming of tilapias worldwide. They are being farmed in about 85 countries worldwide (FAO, 2008) and about 98 per cent of tilapias produced in these countries are grown outside their original habitats. Global tilapia aquaculture production in 2009 was 3.08 million MT, with China, Indonesia, Egypt and the Philippines being the top producers.
The most common breed of tilapia farmed around the world is the Nile Tilapia/Nile Perch, which accounts for roughly 75 per cent of farmed tilapia. Tilapias fish are seasonal. These fish can survive and breed only in warmer water. The ideal water temperature for a tilapia farm is 82 – 86 degrees. Fish will start dying below 55 degrees and you will see a drop in growth rate. Temperature below this can have a bad impact on the breeding of tilapia fish. Hence, India is a suitable country for tilapia farming.
Actually tilapia fish starts breeding three months before being big enough to eat. They have an extremely high breeding rate. An adult tilapia female fish can produce up to 100 fry per week. Many breeders manage the breeding by making use of hormones to breed male tilapia fish. Male tilapia has proved to be more profitable as they grow bigger and are more time and energy efficient. Female tilapia tends to waste energy and time due to breeding.
Tilapia fish is the second most farmed fish in the world and the commercial farming of Tilapia fish is limited in India. Even though this fish was introduced in India long back (in 1952), and there was a ban imposed on tilapia in 1959 by the fisheries research committee of India. Recently, tilapia fish farming was approved with certain conditions in some States. Genetically improved tilapia (GIFT) fish farming was approved with some guidelines.
The Nile tilapia was introduced to India during late 1970s. In 2005, the river Yamuna harboured only negligible quantity of Nile tilapia, but in two years’ time, its proportion has increased to about 3.5 per cent of total fish species in the river. Presently in the Ganges river system, proportion of tilapia is about 7 per cent of the total fish species.
Only four fish farmer groups, M/s Aresen Bio Tech, AP, Vijaywada, M/s Ananda Aqua Exports (P) ltd, Bhimavaram, AP, M/s Indepesca Pvt ltd, Mumbai, M/s CP Aqua (India) Pvt. ltd, Chennai and M/s Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Aquaculture (RGCA), the R & D arm of the Marine Product Export Development Authority (MPEDA) are already permitted by Government of India for the seed production and farming of tilapia (Mono sex and mono culture of Nile/GIFT/golden tilapia) in accordance with the guidelines for the hatchery operation and farming of tilapia, developed by the Sub-Committee under the National Committee on Introduction of Exotic Aquatic Species into Indian Waters.
Monosex tilapia fish farming business is increasing rapidly day by day because it’s very profitable. If you are planning to go for tilapia fish farming on large scale, there are subsidies available for commercial farming.
Nile tilapia is a tropical species that prefers to live in shallow water. It is an omnivorous grazer that feeds on phytoplankton, periphyton, aquatic plants, small invertebrates, benthic fauna, detritus and bacterial films associated with detritus. Sexual maturity in ponds is reached at an age of 5-6 months. Spawning begins when the water temperature reaches 24°C. The female incubates the eggs in her mouth and broods the fry after hatching until the yolk sac is absorbed. Fecundity is proportional to the body weight of the female.
A 100 g female will produce about 100 eggs per spawn, while a female weighing 600-1000 g can produce 1000 to 1500 eggs. Nile tilapia can live longer than 10 years and reach a weight exceeding 5 kg.
The main advantage of ponds is that fish can be grown very cheaply through fertilization. Many different types of ponds are used for tilapia culture. The most widespread, but most unproductive are low input ponds with uncontrolled breeding and irregular harvesting; yields are typically 500-2,000 kg/ha/yr of uneven sized fish. If monosex fish are stocked and regular manuring and supplementary feeding is practiced yields can be up to 8,000 kg/ha/yr of even sized fish. Polyculture of tilapia with other native fish in freshwater ponds is also widely integrated with agriculture and animal farming.
(The writer is working chairperson, EFCAI, Ex-chairman, Orissa Assembly of Small and Medium Enterprise, Email:efcai12@gmail.co)