Shrimp price rise cheers Nellore aqua ryots

AFTER enduring nearly three months of heavy losses due to erratic weather, export tariffs, virus outbreaks, and low market prices, aqua farmers in the coastal belt are finally seeing signs of recovery.

- D SURENDRA KUMAR @Nellore

The price of Vannamei shrimp (100-count) has reached ₹245 per kilogram, bringing a wave of relief to farmers who had suffered prolonged losses.

Over the past three months, aqua farmers were hit hard by a combination of factors, including erratic climatic conditions, weak export demand due to the US tariffs, monopolisation by middlemen, poor farm-gate prices, and outbreaks of diseases like White Gut and White Spot Syndrome.

Many farmers drastically reduced their cultivation, and shrimp farming, which once covered over 80,000 acres in the district, has now decreased to approximately 40,000 acres.