Empowering Sustainable Aquaculture in India

At the National Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture (NaCSA), we are committed to transforming the lives of small scale shrimp farmers across India. Established by MPEDA in 2007, NaCSA was founded on the belief that empowering these farmers who represent over 90% of India's shrimp farming community is crucial for the sustainability and prosperity of the entire aquaculture sector.

Historically, small scale farmers often operated independently, using traditional methods and lacking access to modern technology and scientific advancements. NaCSA stepped in to change this narrative.

Our Approach: Cluster Approach and Adoption of Best Practices

NaCSA started grouping these farmers into clusters and societies further educated them on Better Management Practices (BMPs) for safe and sustainable shrimp farming

Forming Farmer Clusters: By organize individual aquafarmers into clusters, fostering collaboration and shared knowledge. These clusters are the cornerstone of our strategy, enabling collective action and mutual support.
Promoting Better Management Practices (BMP): Adopting Better Management Practices (BMP) to these clusters, ensuring safe, environmentally responsible, and highly productive shrimp farming. This includes guidance on water quality, feed management, and disease prevention.
Embracing the Cluster Approach: A key innovation is our cluster approach. This involves grouping interdependent aquaculture ponds in close geographical proximity, sharing vital resources like water sources and effluent discharge systems. By standardizing production systems and species within a cluster, farmers can:
- Reduce Costs: Coordinate operations, streamline quality seed procurement, and manage stocking, water exchange, and harvesting simultaneously, leading to significant cost savings.
- Prevent Disease: Minimize the risk of disease transmission within and between farms, safeguarding their valuable crops.
- Share Infrastructure: Collectively invest in and benefit from shared infrastructure like canal deepening, testing labs, and electricity.
Technical Support & Capacity Building: We provide round-the-clock technical support and conduct regular capacity-building sessions. Farmers are kept abreast of the latest aquaculture trends, market developments, and the critical importance of avoiding banned antibiotics.
Market Access & Financial Support:NaCSA facilitates market access by linking farmers with processors and exporters, often through platforms like eSaNta (our e-commerce initiative), enabling them to secure better prices. We also help societies access institutional finance and insurance.
Regulatory Guidance: Assisting society members in obtaining necessary licenses from the Coastal Aquaculture Authority (CAA) and ensure their enrollment in MPEDA Farm programs, simplifying compliance and access to benefits.
Social & Environmental Responsibility: NaCSA supported aqua societies are established on principles of social and environmental responsibility and food safety. This commitment benefits not only the farmers but also the wider ecosystem and consumers. In the event of a disease outbreak, farmers promptly report to their society, which convenes an emergency meeting to determine and initiate immediate actions.

Our Objectives: Driving Excellence and Society Welfare

NaCSA primarily functions as the prime mover of extension activities among aquaculture farmers. Our core objectives include:

Organizing small and marginal farmers into societies and promoting Better Management Practices to enhance production and profitability.
Providing common infrastructure facilities, such as testing laboratories, culverts, and electrification.
Acting as a federation of all Aquaculture Societies to facilitate common policies and strategies.
Providing updated information to technical staff of Aquaculture Societies.
Functioning as a Central Agency for standardization of inputs in Aquaculture.
Fostering social connections and a sense of camaraderie among members.
Maintaining a library with relevant resources.
Striving for the eradication of illiteracy within farming communities.
Developing social and cultural activities for the welfare of the society

National Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture

National Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture (NaCSA) National Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture (NaCSA) was established by MPEDA in the year 2007 as an outreach organization for uplifting the livelihood of small-scale shrimp farmers. More than 90% of Indian shrimp farmers belong to small-scale or marginal category with operational holdings of less than two hectare per individual. Till recent years, each farmer’s production system was independent and unsynchronised with that of neighbouring farmers. They mostly adopted traditional methods for operating their farms and did not have access to technological innovations and scientific applications. NaCSA started grouping these farmers into societies and educated them on better management practices (BMP) for safe and sustainable shrimp farming. NaCSA also trained these farmer societies to follow cluster approach in shrimp farming. Cluster refers to interdependent aquaculture ponds often situated in a specified geographical locality and in close proximity to each other with the following characteristics:

Å sharing resources or infrastructure (e.g. water sources or effluent discharge system).
Å having the same production system.
Involving the same candidate species

The primary advantage of cluster approach to shrimp farming is that it enables participating farmers to organize the schedule of farm operations, quality seed procurement, simultaneous stocking, water exchange and harvesting regimes contributing to substantial reduction in cost of production and also prevention of vertical and intra cluster transmission of disease. The aqua societies ensure social and environmental responsibility, and food safety. The members are able to reduce the production cost through efficient use of resources, avoiding unwanted chemicals and antibacterial agents, and sharing of expenses for developing infrastructure such as deepening of canals, seed testing, transportation of inputs, lab, electricity etc.

Despite of all precautions, if an outbreak of disease occurs, the farmer immediately reports it to the aqua society. The society then convenes an emergency meeting and decides the course of action.

Till date, NaCSA has organised 948 societies in nine coastal states of India comprising 20343 farmers and a total culture area of 18494.9 hectares

In this connection, NaCSA has registered 752 societies in nine coastal states of India comprising 18211 farmers and a total culture area of 16632 hectares. The government of Andhra Pradesh acquired land of 24 societies, for ports and other industries.

The government of Andhra Pradesh acquired land of 24 societies, for ports and other industries.

The farmer in societies can sell his product according to his wish and bargain the better price with group approach. Shrimp harvesting is normally done after 120 days of culture when the shrimp have attained 20g -30g average body weight. In some cases, the culture period is extended to 130 150 days to get a bigger size. Society facilities access to institutional finance and insurance. It is a source for linking the farmers with processors and exporters for better market access and price. There are signs of increased confidence in shrimp farming through cluster approach, resulting in more and more farmers join to form societies and implementing BMPs

NaCSA help its Society members to obtain licenses from the Coastal Aquaculture Authority (CAA) and enrolling society farmers in MPEDA Farm enrolment by providing necessary documentation. It has close contacts with district and regional level associations and deputes its members to attend the meetings for promotion of shrimp culture. The society maintains good rapport with the local people and offers generous donations for festivals, schools and other charitable works. It interacts closely with the district administration and helps in procuring development schemes for the welfare of the local community.

Objectives of NaCSA
NaCSA mainly functions as the prime mover of the extension activities among Aquaculture farmers. It organizes small scale farmers farming within same creek to societies and promotes them about better management practices to improve their production and profit. It conducts meetings on crop planning, technical updates apart from this it technical support to society and non-society farmers during culture for sustainable and better production.

Cluster approach for small and Marginal farmers to became Societies To function as the prime mover of the extension activities among aquaculture farmers
To provide common infrastructure facilities like testing laboratories, culverts, electrification etc.
To act as a federation of all the Aquaculture Societies and facilitate formulation of common policies, strategies, etc.
To provide updated information to technical staff of Aquaculture Societies.
To act as a Central Agency for standardization of inputs in Aquaculture.
To develop social contacts and spirit of fellow feeling among its members.
To maintain a Library with good books, periodicals and newspapers.
To strive for the eradication of illiteracy.
To develop the social and cultural activities for the welfare of the society.

1. Way Forward

NaCSA will be migrating from Welfare Societies Act to Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act.
Acts as forward and backward linkages to the society farmers.
E-commerce platform for selling the society produce.
Facilitate access to institutional finance and insurance.
Establishing Aqua One Centres (AOCs) for society farmers.
Establishing the cross-over bridges to cross the creeks for ease of transport to the society farmers in the farming areas.

NaCSA State wise Clusters / Societies

S L No	State	Clusters					Welfare Societies					Cooperative Societies
S L No	State	No of cluster formed	farmers	Total Area (Ha.)	Water Spread Area (Ha.)	No of Ponds	No of registered society	farmers	Total Area (Ha.)	Water Spread Area (Ha.)	No of Ponds	No of registered Cooperative society	farmers	Total Area (Ha.)	Water Spread Area (Ha.)	No of Ponds
S L No	State	Clusters					Welfare Societies					Cooperative Societies
S L No	State	No of cluster formed	farmers	Total Area (Ha.)	Water Spread Area (Ha.)	No of Ponds	No of registered society	farmers	Total Area (Ha.)	Water Spread Area (Ha.)	No of Ponds	No of registered Cooperative society	farmers	Total Area (Ha.)	Water Spread Area (Ha.)	No of Ponds
1	Andhra Pradesh	501	5494	5730.3	4297.7	7577	630	14234	12773.8	9676.5	18705	4	48	46.7	39.5	66
2	Gujarat	41	493	2193.8	1645.3	2506	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Karnataka & Goa	6	62	64.0	48.0	44	22	412	398.3	301.7	635	0	0	0	0	0
4	Kerala	12	168	527.9	396.0	366	3	42	78.6	54.9	51	3	89	147.6	110.7	126
5	Maharashtra	1	11	24.0	18.0	22	1	20	20.0	17.0	20	0	0	0	0	0
6	Odisha	136	1724	1548.5	1161.4	3593	32	1071	802.6	606.5	2001	0	0	0	0	0
7	Tamil Nadu	32	360	963.7	722.8	1531	49	1204	2004.4	1518.5	1841	6	162	318.5	238.9	444
8	West Bengal	113	1349	846.5	634.8	3064	38	1555	829.7	626.9	3231	1	12	4.9	3.7	12
Total		842	9661	11898.7	8924	18703	775	18538	16907.4	12802	26484	14	311	517.8	392.8	648

This growth underscores the increased confidence in sustainable shrimp farming through the cluster approach, inspiring more farmers to join and implement BMPs.

Way Forward: Building a Sustainable Future

Looking ahead, NaCSA is committed to continuous improvement and expansion. Our future initiatives include:

Migrating from the Welfare Societies Act to the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act for enhanced governance and reach.
Strengthening forward and backward linkages for society farmers, ensuring seamless supply chains.
Expanding our e-commerce platform to facilitate direct sales of society produce.
Enhancing access to institutional finance and insurance for all members.
Establishing more Aqua One Centres (AOCs) to provide accessible diagnostic services.
Developing infrastructure for farmers in remote areas.

NaCSA is more than just an organization; we are a catalyst for change, empowering Indian shrimp farmers to thrive sustainably and contribute to the nation's aquaculture growth.

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