The ICAR–Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (ICAR–CIBA) successfully conducted a Front-Line Demonstration (FLD) of fishmeal-free shrimp production through a 98-day culture trial using the Super-Intensive Precision and Natural Shrimp Farming System (SIPNSF) at its model demonstration facility located in the Muttukadu Experimental Station. The zero-fishmeal diet produced 2.30 tonnes of shrimp, comparable to the 2.44 tonnes obtained with the conventional control feed, confirming the technical feasibility of eliminating fishmeal without compromising production performance.
The SIPNSF system consistently achieved a productivity of 4.5–5.0 kg/m³ (approximately 45–50 tonnes/ha/crop) within a 90–100-day culture period. The harvest of FLD-cum-interaction programme was inaugurated by Dr. M. Kailasam, Director, ICAR–CIBA, on 7 August 2026, in the presence of around 30 stakeholders, including entrepreneurs, shrimp farmers, scientists, academicians, students, and feed millers, who witnessed the harvest operation and evaluated the performance of both the SIPNSF system and the zero-fishmeal-fed shrimp.
This successful demonstration represents a significant step towards sustainable shrimp farming by reducing the dependence on fishmeal and reinforces ICAR–CIBA’s commitment to developing scalable, farmer-friendly technologies for environmentally sustainable and economically viable aquaculture. The programme was coordinated by Dr. K. Ambasankar, Head, Nutrition, Genetics and Biotechnology Division, and Dr. K.P. Kumaraguru Vasagam, Principal Investigator of the SIPNSF project.
