The Prawn Farmers Federation of India (PFFI) has taken an important institutional step with the incorporation of the Shrimp Health Foundation, a Section 8 not-for-profit entity created to support the long-term growth of farmer-led shrimp health initiatives in the sector.
The Foundation emerges from the rapid evolution of the Collaborative Shrimp Disease Investigation Program (CoSDIP), which was launched by PFFI in 2025 as India’s first farmer-led, science-supported response to the worsening shrimp health situation across coastal farming regions.
As CoSDIP expanded in scope, credibility, and operational complexity, the need arose for a more formal and transparent platform to support fund management, enable broader participation, and help scale the work in a sustainable manner. CoSDIP began as a farmer-driven response to a serious field problem.
Scientific institutions helped give it structure, industry support strengthened the effort, and the Shrimp Health Foundation was created to provide a transparent and long-term institutional platform for its growth. The Foundation will serve as the funding and governance platform, while PFFI will continue to lead and execute CoSDIP and related field programs as before. In this structure, CoSDIP remains the flagship program supported by the Foundation, ensuring continuity of the ongoing work while providing a more credible and scalable institutional base for future expansion.
The Shrimp Health Foundation was incorporated on 19 February 2026 and its founding directors are Mr. I.P.R. Mohan Raju, President of PFFI, and Mr. Balasubramaniam V, General Secretary of PFFI and Program Director of CoSDIP.
“CoSDIP began as a farmer-driven response to a serious field problem. Scientific institutions helped give it structure, industry support strengthened the effort, and the Shrimp Health Foundation was created to provide a transparent and long-term institutional platform for its growth.”
An Advisory Board of 21 members has also been constituted, bringing together respected experts from across science, industry, genetics, pathology, diagnostics, policy, governance, and global shrimp sector intelligence from India and abroad. The Advisory Board currently includes:
• Mr. S. Santhana Krishnan
• Dr. Tarun Shridhar, IAS (Retd.)
• Dr. C.V. Mohan
• Prof. Iddya Karunasagar
• Dr. Kuldeep K. Lal
• Dr. K.N. Raghavan, IRS (Retd.)
• Dr. K.V. Rajendran
• Dr. Arun K. Dhar (pending university approval)
• Dr. Indrani Karunasagar
• Mr Manavendra Rao
• Dr. Craig Browdy
• Mr. D. Ramaraj
• Dr. Victor Suresh
Dr. Victoria Alday
• Mr. Ravi Kumar Yellanki
• Mr. Oscar Hennig
• Dr. Olivier Decamp
• Mr. Willem van der Pijl
• Dr. Amerneni Ravikumar
• Dr. Suresh Nayak
• Mr. Madhu Mohan Talluri
The Foundation reflects an important evolution in the way collaborative sector initiatives are being structured in Indian shrimp farming — moving from an informal, trust-based arrangement to a more formal, transparent, and institutionally credible platform capable of supporting continuous scientific work and practical outcomes for farmers. CoSDIP is currently in its validation phase, with preliminary investigations by ICAR–CIBA and MPEDA–RGCA indicating possible pathogen involvement, while further validation work continues.
The program has already been presented at World Aquaculture Society (WAS India 2025) and the SyAqua Global Shrimp Summit, Penang (March 2026), and has already received recognition on multiple national and international platforms as India’s first farmer-led shrimp disease investigation initiative.
