Location: Manoj Sharma Shrimp Farm, India
Background: High density commercial aquaculture farming of Tiger Prawn, pacific white prawn (Vannamei), Tilapia or Basa Shrimp and/or fish fecal matter, as well as leftover feed, pollutes the water in Aquaculture ponds, contributing to high nitrate and organic waste. The polluted water results in hyper-eutrophication with large quantities of decaying dead algae and organic waste from fish and/or shrimp excretion creating Tiger prawns only grow to about 12 to 15 grams in size when harvested at 4 months, but can increase to 30 to 35 grams when harvested at 6 months, which then commands a premium price which can be even more than two times the market price.
Objective:The Shrimp Farms in Surat had been using locally cultured probiotics (Bacteria) for pond treatment in their Aquaculture ponds and had been achieving satisfactory performance in water quality and shrimp yield as informed by Dr Manoj Sharma. However these probiotics/bacteria are not capable of eliminating/reducing sludge formation, a major issue faced by the farmers after the harvesting since the sludge is to be removed mechanically, which involves huge expenditure apart from the time required in doing the same and the delay in starting the next farming/crop.
MICROBE-LIFT® technology is a consortium of microbes unlike the locally available probiotics that contain only few beneficial bacteria. Hence the local product is having a lower price in comparison to
MICROBE-LIFT® the price of which perhaps may be felt costly to use.
Key objective of the trial was to evaluate the effectiveness of
MICROBE-LIFT® in the following segments.
- Maintaining the ecological balance by reducing organic waste and eliminating bottom sludge
- Reducing non-beneficial bacteria and diseases through Pro-Biotic effect
- Increasing growth rate & reducing mortality
- Achieving larger prawn at harvest, commanding much higher market price
- Allowing for a higher density and lower mortality resulting in higher yield
- Reducing feed conversion ratio (FCR)- saving on feed cost
- Reducing the rate of water changes- providing for a clean environment
- Eliminating bad odor in the water, avoiding a soil smell in fish and prawns