The BMR Group, whose Chairman Dr. Beeda Masthan Rao introduced Penaeus vannamei to India in 2003, is working toward four-star, Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP)certification through the construction of a new feed mill in Andhra Pradesh, India. Scheduled for completion in March 2016, the mill will have a capacity of 300 metric tons (MT) per day.
“We have hired some of the best nutritionists from around the globe to produce a premium-quality pelleted feed to benefit the local shrimp farmers,” said Alfred Nasti, director of shrimp sales for BMR Seafood USA.
“BMR Group is setting up an onsite quality-control laboratory to analyse all the raw material for critical nutritional values and amino acid profiles. This will insure a finished feed product that will result in higher yields for the farmers.”
The feed mill is being built in the same complex as BMR’s shrimp processing plant, which has a freezing capacity of 55 MT per day. BMR’s farms cover 250 hectares, and additional farms are under construction. BMR also has 12 hatcheries with a capacity of four billion postlarvae a year that supply nearly a third of India’s shrimp farmers.
BMR Group is also constructing a major R&D facility with a goal of finding new developments that create maximum results and continue improving responsible practices for small-scale farmers to adopt.
“We hope to work together with BAP and get as many of our farmers certified as economically as possible,” said Nasti.
