Opinion Volume 4 Issue 5 - September 2017 DOI: 10.19080/OFOAJ.2017.04.555647 Oceanogr Fish Open Access J Copyright © All rights are reserved by Shivakumar Magada Precision Aquaculture: IPAT Shivakumar Magada* Department of Aquatic Environment Management, College of Fisheries, India Submission: July 31, 2017; Published: September 27, 2017 *Corresponding author: Shivakumar Magada, Professor of Aquatic Biology, Department of Aquatic Environment Management, KVAFSU, College of Fisheries, Mangaluru 575 002, India, Tel: ; Email: Introduction Figure 1 The Definitive Principles of aquaculture cannot be written in indelible ink. This science is a part of a continuously improvement program. Way back in 1960’s it was recommended to feed the carps with rice bran and oil cake, because they were available in cheap. After the realization that these organic feeds are poorly utilized by fish and the fact that nowadays these raw materials for many other beneficial and much more economical activities and with increased demand, the cost of these raw materials has increased significantly. As advised in classic aquaculture, if it is mixed in 1:1 ratio and fed to fish, the cost of production will be Rs. 99/kg. But now in many parts of the country, the farm gate value of carps (Rs. 80/kg) does not rise above the cost of production. Till recently, carp seed rearing and farming at any scale was highly profitable because of the low cost for the inputs. But this is no longer true, as the cost of basic traditional inputs like cow dung, poultry manure, ground nut cake, rice bran and fixed costs of land; total input costs have increased many fold, while the farm gate value of the fish seed and market size fish remained almost constant. Though aquaculture production models are highly dynamic, unless we assess the economics and understand the scale of economy of any given activity, systems may not be economically or environmentally sustainable. In early sixties, most of the aquaculture production systems were extensive- that is using a low input extensive approach to production. Rice bran, ground nut cake (GNC) and cow dung was available then at cheaper cost. The cost of GNC in 1983 was Rs. 3.80 and it is Rs. 40/kg in 2014. The cost of rice bran was Rs. 1.60 and it is Rs. 18-20/kg currently (Figure 1). USSEC Sponsored IPAT Program in India US Soy Bean Export Council invited different stakeholders related to aquaculture and organized two programs in India. One at Vishakapattanam on 17.05.2016 and another at Kolkata on 20.05.2016. Mr Umakanth and Dr Yadunandan, and the USSEC team were instrumental in bringing different stakeholders on one platform to discuss a new aquaculture technology. Mr George Fullerton, Auburn University, USA delivered a special talk describing Intensive Pond Aquaculture Technology or IPAT. It was simplified and technically narrated by Dr Vijay Anand, Director, Asia Sub Continent, for USSEC. The institutes like National Fisheries Development Board, Hyderabad, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Cochin, Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture, Chennai, College of Fisheries, Mangaluru, Aquafeed producers, progressive farmers, shrimp hatchery owners and others related to field of aquaculture were present. The concept was well received by the stakeholders. Visit to China In continuation with the above described program in India, the selected group of stakeholders was taken to China to visit farms which demonstrate show the successful IPAT models. See and learn is better than hear and learn. The team of 60 delegates from countries like India, Vietnam, Egypt, China and USA were there as participants. Dr Jesse A. Chappell, Extension Specialist, Auburn University, Ms Deena Hansel, Aquaculture Program Manager, USSEC, Xiaoping Zhang, China Country Director, Mr Joe Zhou Enhua, Technical Manager-freshwater Aquaculture, USSEC, China, Dr Lee, USSEC, China, Mr. Jim Zhang, Program Manager- Aquaculture, USSEC, China, were moderating and technically facilitated the program. Oceanogr Fish Open Access J 4(5): OFOAJ.MS.ID.555647 (2017) 001