The giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, popularly known as ‘scampi, is set to stage a come back to platters of food lovers as scientists of Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (CIFA) developed a genetically improved strain of the prawn.Now, CIFA, an Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) organisation, has successfully developed a genetically improved fast-growing strain named CIFA-GI Scampi, which received official registration in 2020.In 2021, under the Prime Minister Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), a Central sector scheme, the Department of Fisheries had sanctioned a project to scale up the genetic improvement programme with funding support to the tune of ₹4 crore. According to CIFA, the PMMSY funding support helped scale up the infrastructure facilities for the production of new generations of ‘CIFA-GI Scampi’.“It is expected that with the increased awareness on the economic benefits of GI scampi among the farming community, the production of GI scampi will increase further. In 2021-22, the Scampi production in the country has shown a remarkable 2.5-fold increase from 8,303 tonne to 21,317 tonne,” said CIFA scientist.“To support the rapid expansion, five scampi hatcheries have been selected as multiplier hatcheries by ICAR. These hatcheries are responsible for producing CIFA-GI SCAMPI seeds and supply to the farmers. Meanwhile, we are adding more hatcheries to our network to reach an ambitious target of bringing 25,000 ha under scampi by 2026,” said P.K. Sahoo, Director, ICAR-CIFA.
