P.K Patil*, R. Geetha
Infectious diseases especially, Enterocytozoon Hepatopenaei (EHP), White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) infections and are the major constraints in the development of shrimp farming in India. A questionnaire-based survey covering an area of 7259 ha in 23 coastal districts based on multistage stratified sampling (n=909) was conducted to estimate the Probability of Disease Occurrence (PDO) and the economic loss due to diseases was estimated. Loss of production (t ha-1 crop-1) due to WSSV and EHP was 2.58 ± 0.32 and 1.80 ± 0.24 respectively. Additionally, the total employment loss due to diseases was estimated at 1.65 M man-days worth US$ 7.07 M. The results of the study revealed 49% as the overall probability of infectious disease occurrence in the country leading to an annual loss of 0.14 M ton of harvest worth US$ 1.02 B. Prioritizing the research and implementation of specific policies would help in reducing the losses due to infectious diseases in Indian shrimp farming.
