The New Nation - Internet Edition

The USAID-funded PRICE project and the WorldFish Center announced an immediate initiative to raise shrimp farm yields for the benefit of the entire shrimp sector. Under a subcontract with PRICE, the WorldFish Center would implement the GHERS (Greater Harvest and Economic Returns from Shrimp) initiative with partner depot owners to provide embedded extension services to 2,000 bagda and golda farmers for the 2009-farming season.

The Bangladesh shrimp and prawn farms have historically had significantly lower yields than competitor countries due to very traditional farming methods. These very low yields have been one of the most serious sector constraints, contributing to significant under-capacity at the processing level. This in turn has also led to significant quality issues due to the fierce competition for supply at the processing level.

Working from a PRICE office in Khulna, the WorldFish Center will train extension facilitators of the partner depots to train bagda and golda farmers on modified traditional farming techniques to significantly increase pond yields. In recent USAID-funded projects, WorldFish has demonstrated that net yields and profits may increase by over 100 percent. "This PRICE initiative will definitely promote increases in production and quality by improving farming methods and farmer group cooperation", said Alan Brooks, Regional Director, WorldFish Center.

Accordingly, PRICE looks to assist up to 15,000 farmers throughout the life of the project, including linking them with progressive processors for export sales. This could result in 50 million USD in sales and 14,000 new jobs for the sector, benefiting the entire value chain. "The GHERS initiative presents an excellent opportunity for PRICE to address one of the most serious sector constraints, which is the lack of an adequate supply of raw shrimp and prawn for processing and export," said Bob Webster, PRICE Chief of Party. "PRICE and the World Fish Center look forward to working with our partner depots, farmers and processors during this entire initiative, which will complement our other efforts for the shrimp sector." PRICE (Poverty Reduction by Increasing the Competitiveness of Enterprises) is a USAID funded project whose objective is to reduce poverty by facilitating the increase of sales, jobs and investment in aquaculture, horticulture, and leather products. PRICE's activities will be driven by the demand of the market and will seek for the benefits of growth to be shared with women, young adults, SMEs and farmers as much as possible.