Aquaconnect, the pioneer aquaculture technology venture has launched an emergency helpline number 72999 10993, on March 27, to support shrimp and fish farmers in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, during the pandemic lockdown. Aquaconnect Chief Executive Officer Rajamanohar Somasundaram shares the trials and tribulations of the aquaculture farmers, how IoT and AI have come to their rescue with navjeevanexpress.com. Excerpts of the interview:
What are the measures taken by Aquaconnect to mitigate the problems of shrimp/fish farmers during this lockdown?
Aquaconnect has launched an emergency helpline number 72999 10993 to support Indian shrimp and fish farmers during the pandemic lockdown. Through the helpline, Aquaconnect aims to offer on-call support for aquaculture farmers to provide information on lockdown regulations and farming-related queries.
Through the helpline, farmers can get information and services such as farmgate price, offline farming support, availability and transportation of seed & farm inputs. This help-line number will also serve as a support centre to provide the latest government announcements and important messages on the Aquaculture sector throughout the lock-down period.
Remote assistance through our aquaculture officers
Considering the pandemic outbreaks and to comply with Govt. initiatives our aquaculture officers are offering on-call/remote support to the farmers. Aquaculture officers are monitoring the culture progress and animal performance with the help of FarmMOJO to provide advisory services and mitigating farming-related risks.
How will AI and IoT help them to face this unprecedented situation caused by Covid19 spread?
Shrimp farming requires constant monitoring of daily farm operations. Farm owners need to be updated on animal growth, farm inputs usage and performance of the animal. However, in the current situation, it is not advisable to visit the farm frequently. We suggest the farmers use our free advisory solution, FarmMOJO to keep updated on their farm operations instantly and to take decisions accordingly.
FarmMOJO serves as a friendly farm companion which supports the farmers from recording & monitoring the growth of animals to tracking feed & water quality. FarmMOJO understands farm’s needs inherently based on the input given by the farmer as well as the data captured by the IoT platforms. Our advisory app supports farmers to manage their daily farming activities remotely while staying safely at home. The Farm management app will provide access to farmworkers for data recording and farm owners to manage the farming activities.
How many of your customers have been affected by the current situation?
Usually, full swing summer culture happens during March but the pandemic outbreaks slowed down the pace significantly. A considerable percentage of farmers who stocked until February is continuing the culture and the remaining farmers are planned to stock after the lockdown period.
Since the summer culture has started in many parts of the country, shrimp farmers are facing issues such as transportation, seed and feed availability, etc. They are also afraid that the current situation might affect the price and we are daily getting market price queries through our helpline number. Considering the on-ground challenges, farmers who haven’t started summer culture are planning to start it after the lockdown period.
Both domestic and international markets are closed as there is no logistics. How do the farmers store their produce and the limit of storing period?
Once the shrimp are harvested, it would be taken to the processing plants so that they could be cleaned, graded, sorted and tested for antibiotic traces. We advise farmers not to take the harvested shrimps directly into the cold storage as it may degrade the quality and there would be no takers after it has been frozen with dirt.
As the processing plants are shut down due to the lockdown and lack of labours, we advise farmers not to go for harvest until the clarity emerges from the present situation.
Whether the centre or state governments are extending any financial support to this aqua industry to tide over the crisis?
Yes, the government is supporting the shrimp farmers with assured prices. Considering the plunge in farm gate prices, Andhra Pradesh Government stepped up and fixed assured prices for shrimps till the lockdown period ends. Further, various state governments have extended their support in exempting aquaculture related activities from the lockdown restrictions. These kinds of initiatives are helping farmers and stakeholders to mitigate the risks in this unlikely situation.
