Stuck with ever increasing costs on your farm? Andy Solomon, Farm Manager at ABK takes us through the challenges of shrimp farming in Indonesia today. Highlighting the need to balance resistance and growth rate of your stock to boost efficiency and profitability.
Control your inputs and production cycle
Over the years, the production environment for shrimp has changed. Costs for electricity, labour, feed, vitamins and chemicals are all increasing. This is on top of existing inputs for genetics, hatcheries, farms and processors.
So, what can you control? According to Andy it’s all down to growth rates and feed conversation ratio (FCR) of your shrimp fry.
“The faster the shrimp grow, the less expenses we have to pay”, says Andy.
This mantra comes from experience.
On the ABK farm a feed conversion ratio of 0.1 costs around IDR 1,500 per kilogram of shrimp, and the profit per 1 kilogram of live shrimp is about IDR 20,000. “If FCR increases by just 0.1, we lose IDR 1,500 per kilogram of shrimp”, says Andy.
Having spoken with friends in the industry, Andy shared that farmers are not currently making targeted profits when harvesting at a size of 20-30 counts. Before the rise in costs, as you know, farmers would be making good profits with shrimp of this size.
It is time to shorten the production cycle to become more efficient.
Choose the right shrimp fry for your farm
The current price of shrimp at farm-gate cannot be controlled. It makes sense to carefully manage your inputs to reduce production time. This includes the very small and fragile shrimp fry you first place in your pond.
Struggling with slow growth rates from an existing supplier, last year Andy decided to switch to Benchmark Genetics shrimp line, BMK YIELD®.
In comparison with other genetics suppliers, Benchmark’s fry has faster growth and lower FCR, as well as good resistance
Andy Solomon, Farm Manager at ABK
Measure your success
Data is key to measuring your success and the value of the inputs you chose.
ABK has noticed a significant increase in both growth rate and production volume since using Benchmark Genetics BMK Yield® PLs.
The company has increased production from 12 to 23 tons/hectare (stocking density: 150pcs/sqm).
An important take-away message is that genetics really is a crucial starting point for production.
19 tons/hectare is break-even for ABK in East Java and 21 tons/hectare is break-even for ABK in Sumbawa and East side of Java. “This means the resistance of the stock itself is important, not only the growth”.
Do you need some support in choosing fast growing and robust shrimp fry for your farm to maximise your profit?
Benchmark can help you. Contact Dedy Safari, our representative in Indonesia
