Surat: Surat and south Gujarat’s shrimp farming is set to get a major filip with dedicated cargo services.
It was a big day for the shrimp farmers on Wednesday when Spice Jet’s first freighter aircraft brought in about 24 tonnes of shrimp seeds from hatcheries in Chennai and Vishakhapatnam. This was the first-ever direct consignment of shrimp seeds to Surat in all these years.
Until now, shrimp farmers faced a lot of hassles in procuring the shrimp seeds due to lack of direct dedicated cargo flights to the diamond city. The seeds have to first airshipped to Mumbai and then by road to Surat. Farmers had to face heavy losses due to high mortality rate of shrimp seeds in the road journey.
Official sources at the domestic cargo terminal said that the Spice Jet freighter will be operating thrice a week connecting Chennai, Vishakhapatnam, Surat and Kolkata. About 24 tonnes of shrimp seeds were off-loaded at the terminal, about 8 tonnes of general cargo was sent to Chennai from Surat.
Shrimp business is booming in the diamond city and other districts including Valsad, Bharuch, Navsari. From just 300 metric tonnes per annum of shrimp production in 2009, the production has crossed to over 45,000 metrics tonnes per annum in 2019. The annual turnover of the shrimp farming in south Gujarat is pegged at Rs 2,000 crore.
There is an annual demand of 500 crore shrimp seeds in Surat and South Gujarat region. About 70% of the shrimp seed demand comes from Surat and nearby areas including Olpad, Sayan, Mandroi, Ichhapore, Dumas etc.
Head of the domestic cargo terminal operated by AAI Cargo Logistics and Allied Services Company Limited (AAICLAS) said, “Shrimp farming is a big business in Surat and surrounding areas. The freighter service will be a boon for these farmers. In fact, city’s cargo business will get a major boost with Spice Jet’s freighter service. We have all the required infrastructure to handle the cargo including cold storages, strong rooms etc.”
Pradip Navik, vice-president of Gujarat Aquaculture Association (GAA) said, “It is a big day for the shrimp farmers. Now, we won’t have to depend on Mumbai for getting the shrimp seeds. We expect the shrimp farming will get a major boost in the coming days as the travel time from Chennai and Vishakhapatnam has decreased drastically”
Photo quote:
“The entire shrimp farming community is excited with the direct cargo service from Chennai to Surat. This will boost the shrimp farming business in the coming days and we expect the production to increase by about 10-20% due to fast delivery of the seeds.
Manoj Sharma, president, Gujarat Aqua Feed Dealers Association
We always suffered heavy losses during transportation of shrimp seeds from Mumbai. It took almost 10 hours for the seeds to reach Navsari. Now, we will get the seeds within couple of hours after they will leave the hatcheries in Chennai and Vishakhapatnam.
Nehal Gandhi, shrimp farmer, Navsari
It was a big day for the shrimp farmers on Wednesday when Spice Jet’s first freighter aircraft brought in about 24 tonnes of shrimp seeds from hatcheries in Chennai and Vishakhapatnam. This was the first-ever direct consignment of shrimp seeds to Surat in all these years.
Until now, shrimp farmers faced a lot of hassles in procuring the shrimp seeds due to lack of direct dedicated cargo flights to the diamond city. The seeds have to first airshipped to Mumbai and then by road to Surat. Farmers had to face heavy losses due to high mortality rate of shrimp seeds in the road journey.
Official sources at the domestic cargo terminal said that the Spice Jet freighter will be operating thrice a week connecting Chennai, Vishakhapatnam, Surat and Kolkata. About 24 tonnes of shrimp seeds were off-loaded at the terminal, about 8 tonnes of general cargo was sent to Chennai from Surat.
Shrimp business is booming in the diamond city and other districts including Valsad, Bharuch, Navsari. From just 300 metric tonnes per annum of shrimp production in 2009, the production has crossed to over 45,000 metrics tonnes per annum in 2019. The annual turnover of the shrimp farming in south Gujarat is pegged at Rs 2,000 crore.
There is an annual demand of 500 crore shrimp seeds in Surat and South Gujarat region. About 70% of the shrimp seed demand comes from Surat and nearby areas including Olpad, Sayan, Mandroi, Ichhapore, Dumas etc.
Head of the domestic cargo terminal operated by AAI Cargo Logistics and Allied Services Company Limited (AAICLAS) said, “Shrimp farming is a big business in Surat and surrounding areas. The freighter service will be a boon for these farmers. In fact, city’s cargo business will get a major boost with Spice Jet’s freighter service. We have all the required infrastructure to handle the cargo including cold storages, strong rooms etc.”
Pradip Navik, vice-president of Gujarat Aquaculture Association (GAA) said, “It is a big day for the shrimp farmers. Now, we won’t have to depend on Mumbai for getting the shrimp seeds. We expect the shrimp farming will get a major boost in the coming days as the travel time from Chennai and Vishakhapatnam has decreased drastically”
Photo quote:
“The entire shrimp farming community is excited with the direct cargo service from Chennai to Surat. This will boost the shrimp farming business in the coming days and we expect the production to increase by about 10-20% due to fast delivery of the seeds.
Manoj Sharma, president, Gujarat Aqua Feed Dealers Association
We always suffered heavy losses during transportation of shrimp seeds from Mumbai. It took almost 10 hours for the seeds to reach Navsari. Now, we will get the seeds within couple of hours after they will leave the hatcheries in Chennai and Vishakhapatnam.
Nehal Gandhi, shrimp farmer, Navsari
