Bangladeshi shrimp exporters note greater demand for organically farmed shrimp

 The organic fish farming is also being popularised across the southern belt of the country for more profit and as climate sustainable method, they echoed.

"Bangladeshi organic shrimp has a great demand in the world and it is rising. This has helped local companies to increase exports," said Kazi Inam Ahmed, Managing Director of the Gemini Sea Food, a leading frozen fish exporter in the country.

He said the price of organic shrimp is 20-25 per cent higher compared to that of normal shrimp.

Shachchidananda Biswas, Assistant Director of 'Shushilan', an NGO working for sustainable livelihood for the coastal people, told the FE that Bangladeshi farmers have been able to bring only one species under organic farming--the Bagda shrimp (black tiger or panaeus monodon).

"Following climate hazards and bad effects of aquaculture that makes huge agricultural lands barren, organic farming is being popularised across the southern belt including Satkhira, Khulna and Bagherhat districts ", he said.

"It takes two weeks more to grow Bagda in an organic way compared to usual farming. Moreover, the weight of a piece of natural Bagda is 4-5 gram less than the normal one. But minimising the cost for chemical fertiliser and popular fish feeds, profit margin of organic Bagda is 10 per cent higher", he said.

A few NGOs are now working to educate farmers on organic farming, but government intervention is necessary to boost its production, he added.

According to the Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association (BFFEA) and Shushilan, the country exported nearly 1,500 tonnes of organic tiger shrimp worth US $23.85 million in 2012-13 which was 250 tonnes in 2011-12.

The exports will be doubled in the current financial year compared to the previous years, the BFFEA predicted.

The Gemini Sea Food, the Marine Fresh Bangladesh, the Ark Sea Foods Ltd, the Rupali Sea Foods Ltd, the Achia Sea Foods, the Gazipur Sea Foods Pvt Ltd etc are the leading exporters of organic shrimps.

BFFEA officials said the country exports nearly 50,000 tonnes of shrimp worth $550 million (both organic and non-organic) annually.

The popular shrimp price is hovering between $6.0 and $7 per pound (0.45 kilogram). In the US, the price of organic tiger shrimp was $7.5-$8.0 per pound, according to the BFFEA.

President of the BFFEA Md Amin Ullah told the FE that the demand for the product is soaring globally amid growing environmental awareness.

"We always encourage the shrimp farm owners to promote organic farming besides the existing method. We have to diversify our farming methods to make our products more competitive", he said.

The EU, the US, the Middle East and Japan have a great demand for Bangladeshi shrimps, both organic and non-organic, he said.

"Even organic products have also a great demand in Bangladesh. I expect Agora, Shwapna, Meena Bazar, the leading local chain shops, to open organic corners in their outlets soon", he added.

However, the Swiss Import Promotion Programme (SIPPO) has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the BFFEA to carry out internationally-certified organic shrimp aquaculture in Bangladesh.

The Swiss organisation will give support in training farmers and processors for producing organic shrimps in Bangladesh. It will also make necessary contracts for imports in Switzerland and the European Union to promote the country's organic products.

With the implementation of this project, Bangladesh could earn a premium price of about 25 per cent higher than the present price, the BFFEA said.

Shrimps showed a tremendous performance in terms of export growth as the sector fetched nearly $300 million in the July-November period of the current financial year, a 36 per cent growth compared to that of last year, the EPB said.

The sector has become increasingly important for Bangladesh with 97 per cent of production exported. Shrimps represent the country's third largest export after garments and jute contributing about 4 pc to the GDP and employing approximately 1.2 million people in production, processing and marketing.