Thailand to boost shrimp exports

NAKHON SI THAMMARAT, April 5 (TNA) - The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives has planned to increase Thai shrimp exports by lifting up the potential of shrimp farming in Pak Panang River Basin of Nakhon Si Thammarat Province in the Thai South. Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister YukolLimlamthong presided over the opening of the 3rd Pak Panang River Basin Shrimp Day on Saturday (Apr 5), under the theme of "Shrimp Expo: Nakhon Si Thammarat Heading to Become an Economic Area for Shrimp Farming. The event was aimed to stimulate the growth of local shrimp farming businesses and to provide relevant knowledge and technologies to local shrimp farmers. The caretaker deputy prime minister acknowledged that the Pak Panang River Basin has potential to become a major shoreline breeding ground for marine lives, as the area can usually produce up to 40,000 tonnes of shrimps annually. However, the caretaker deputy prime minister said, Thai exports of shrimps dropped last year due to a spreading of shrimp disease, while the Pak Panang River Basin has produced only 25 per cent of its capacity so far this year, prompting the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives' Fisheries Department to have financially sponsored research projects to eliminate the complicated shrimp disease and to relieve drought impacts on local shrimp produce. (TNA)