D. Srinivas, Ch. Venkatrayulu and B. Swapna
Commercial shrimp culture in Andhra Pradesh started with Pennaeus monodon in 1990’s and after reaching to the peak in 1994. The fresh water prawn, scampi Macrobrachium rosenbergii was introduced as an alternative to P.monodon in 1999, which was also faced with different disease problems and after experimental studies in 2003; Government of India permitted Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone, 1931) in 2009 through import of specific pathogen free (SPF) brood stock. The L.vannamei production was gradually increased from the year 2009 to 2015. More than half of the country’s production comes from Andhra Pradesh only. The shrimp exports reached all time high during 2014-15. Presently, the L.vannamei culture is facing various problems and threats and is struggling for sustainability. Lack of availability of quality seed, high feed cost are some of other problems facing by the farmers. So the study on various issues and problems in L.vannamei farming is very important to create awareness among the farmers to sustain the culture. Implementing Better Management Practices (BMPs) in field level and following strict bio-security measures are very important for sustainable L. vannamei farming in the State.
