Rise in shrimp feed prices leaves aqua farmers in deep waters in Andhra Pradesh

It is 4.30 a.m. and long before the dawn broke, John Raju, an aqua farmer from a village near Palacole in the West Godavari district, wakes up to an alarm buzz and peeps out anxiously from his bedroom window into his backyard. He then heads out hurriedly towards his shrimp pond and walks along its embankment, with aerator machines making a constant whirring sound. They have been running through the night. Aqua farmers worried over manufacturers’ bid to increase shrimp feed pricesHe then pauses at a stilt and glances across the pond, spread across a sprawling 10 acres. In the pond, he sees tens of thousands of shrimps, reminding him of the months of hard work and investments of lakhs of rupees to fetch profits from the business.

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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at The Hindu — Top.