Use of chemicals and veterinary medicinal products (VMPs) in Pacific whiteleg shrimp, P. vannamei farming in India

Abstract Aquaculture has become a significant food producing sector, the sustainability of which largely depends on management of health of cultured species and the aquatic ecosystem. Aquaculturists resort to use of chemicals and veterinary medicinal products (VMPs) to maintain water and soil quality parameters at optimal levels and health of cultured species to achieve higher productivity. The present study reports the survey results (n = 867) on the use of chemicals and VMPs in Indian shrimp aquaculture. The influence of the use of chemicals and VMPs on the feed conversion ratio (FCR), survival (%), average size at harvest (g) and production (t) were evaluated. Farms in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were found to use similar amounts of chemicals and VMPs, 89.06 kg t−1 and 87.07 kg t−1, respectively, while farmers from Gujarat used significantly low quantity (53.42 kg t−1). The products under the category disinfectants, soil and water probiotics and environmental modifiers were applied directly to the pond as broadcasting while gut probiotics and nutritional supplements were applied orally as feed top dressing. Among the compounds, more than half (50.62%) of the aquaculture inputs were environmental modifiers, followed by probiotics (20.94%), disinfectants (6.99%) and nutritional supplements (3.41%). Use of chemicals and VMPs, however, was shown to positively influence the stocking density, survival and production. Usage of higher quantities of environmental modifiers and probiotics suggests the awareness about their utility in maintaining optimal water and soil parameters thereby improving pond health, and reducing stress and disease episodes.