Eco-friendly shrimp farming Scientific shrimp farming was taken up in Karnataka State during the year 1990. About 4,200 hectares of brackish water in Uttara Kannada, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts have been found suitable for shrimp farming. But now the shrimp farming in Karnataka suffered a severe set back following the spread of viral disease commonly known as white spot disease. The MPEDA has adopted a new technique, called eco-friendly shrimp farming. It also successfully conducted a demonstration of this method at Chendiye village. The demonstration involves three stages. In the first stage, the pond is treated with 30 ppm of chlorine. This destroys all living organisms in the pond that are sheltering the virus. The chlorinated water will remain in the pond for four to five weeks before it is replaced. In the second stage, shrimp seeds are treated before they are released into the pond. The seeds are collected in a plastic bag of 400 litres capacity and treated with 100 ppm of formalin for 15 minutes. The seeds affected by the White Spot Disease die with this treatment. In the third stage, pro-biotics, which area harmless but useful bacteria, are released into the pond and also in shrimps through food. These bacteria prevent the growth of harmful bacteria by keeping the water clean and help the shrimps to grow properly. |
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