Bangkok--13 Oct--Asian Institute of Technology
Shrimp farming which began as a traditional small-scale business in Southeast Asia has now emerged as a global industry. Aiding the rise of shrimp farming are newer technologies like Biofloc that enable production of shrimp without water exchange. Bioflocs also maintain good water quality and provide essential and high quality nutrients to shrimps.
Learning about the advances in biofloc technology were 27 participants coming from 15 countries at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) on 12 October 2015. Launching the second program in this series, Dr. Krishna R Salin of Aquaculture and Aquatic Resources Management (AARM) program from AIT's School of Environment, Resources and Development (SERD). "We were inundated with queries when we held our first program in July this year," Dr. Salin informed the participants. This led to the organization of the second program in this series which began on 16 October 2015 and shall last till Friday.
Dr. Amararatne Yakupitiyage, Visiting Associate Professor at AARM remarked that in the early 1980's, AIT had taken the lead in tilapia fish farming. By the end of the decade, research on tilapia was commercialized and it became a huge success. Similarly, AIT has taken the lead in biofloc technologies which can boost shrimp farming in the region.
Welcoming participants was Prof. Kanchana Kanchanasut, Vice President for Research at AIT, who stated that the Institute is working towards integrating aquaculture with sensor networks. She also invited everyone to explore the Internet of Things and adapt the technology in their respective fields.
Also joining the inaugural session was Dr. Nyan Taw, Consultant of Blue Archipelago, Malaysia, and the Coastal Resources Sustainable Development (CRSD) project in Vietnam.The five-day program will also have Dr. Chalor Limsuwan of Kasetsart University, Thailand, and Mr. Veerasun Prayotamornkul of Thai Organic shrimp farming Group joining as experts.
Participants at the program include Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of companies, representatives of trade organizations, and senior government and private sector officials. Participants came from Belize, Brazil, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Kuwait, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.