Can technology clean up the shrimp farming business?

Water pollution is threatening the livelihood of Debabrata Khuntia By Priti Gupta in Mumbai & Ben Morris in London Business reporters For generations the family of Debabrata Khuntia made a living by fishing in the Bay of Bengal and the rivers and canals of Purba Medinipur in West Bengal. He remembers being able to catch 10 tonnes of fish a year, some of which he would keep and the rest he would sell in the market. But those days are gone. There are few fish and Debabrata now makes a living growing tomatoes and brinjal. He is in no doubt what is to blame. "Excessive shrimp farming." Many farmers have shifted to shrimp farming because the money is better, he says. But that involves building shrimp ponds, feeding the shrimp and treating them with antibiotics. At the end of the growing cycle – when the shrimp are ready for market – the water is flushed into the river untreated which, Debabrata says, has caused pollution. "The water turns black and smells," he says. The poor quality of the water has even hit his vegetable crop. Shrimp farming has also been blamed for social and environmental problems elsewhere in the […]

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