Saudi Arabia should be proud of the big leap forward in aquaculture accomplished by an integrated project - National Prawns Company (NPC) located on the Red Sea coast. The project site is at Al Lith, about 150 kms. south of Jeddah. NPC stands out as one of the world's largest shrimp farming projects of its nature. The first phase of the project, costing SR 750 million, which is already under operation, is due to be completed in 2005.
The Phase I of the project has 10 farms of almost 2500 hcts WSA (Water Spread Area), with an expected production of 12,500 MT of shrimp per year. So far, six farms have been brought under production. The Phase II will have additional 15 farms of almost 3500 hcts WSA, which is expected to produce 17,500 MT of shrimp per year.
HRH Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz inaugurated the Phase-1 of NPC's Project in March 2003 and simultaneously laid the foundation stone for the Phase-2 of the Project, which is expected to cost an additional SR 600 million.
SAUDI COMMERCE is happy to record that this innovative project is working successfully. NPC General Manager, Eng. Ahmad Rasheed Al Balla, told SAUDI COMMERCE that the total farm production of shrimp touched 3,500 tons during the first half of 2004, or an expected average production of 7,000 tons for the full year. This is indeed a very big breakthrough for Saudi aquaculture in particular and its fisheries in general.
No other shrimp project in the region has been of this enormous size, not to speak of Saudi Arabia. Since the NPC production itself is much above the total domestic consumption, this project should be considered an export-oriented venture. Eng. Al Balla said that about 80 percent of production production is exported. Its exports go to Japan, the U.S., Australia, China, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and soon will reach the EU markets. The company must be complimented for organizing a world-wide network of distributors. Sojitz Corp of Japan, for instance, represents NPC not only in Japan, but also in China. The management has also signed an exclusive agreement with International Gourmet Fisheries Inc of U.S.A. for distribution of NPC products in U.S.A., Canada & Australia. The company has, meanwhile, acquired ISO 9000:2001, HACCP and SQF certification under the Quality Management System.
Eng. Al Balla emphasizes that NPC follows certain strict guidelines to achieve its goals in production, which are:
De-intensification of culture practices & use of sedimentation basins to reduce farm effluents & to protect aquatic ecosystems.
Adapting Chemical & antibioticfree farming operations.
Efficient diseases management through adequate bio-security & sanitation measures.
Protection of natural resources like mangroves & local habitat.
Adopting best management practices like lowering of nutrient inputs and maintaining dissolved oxygen concentrations.
Continuously enhancing the Shrimp product through selective breeding.
The company has also made huge investment in establishing a state-of-theart processing plant at its farm site, which is capable of handling 80 tons per day of head-on shrimps. A major part of the machinery was supplied and installed by M/S Marel/Carnitech, Denmark. The peeling machines were supplied by M/S Jonssons. USA. and the refrigeration system was supplied by Mycom of Japan. The plant is designed to process a wide variety of products from simple block feezing to high value ready-to-eat individually quick frozen cooked products.
Eng. Al Balla explains: "All our farm production have been processed at our processing plant, and the main products are (a) fresh shrimp mainly for the local market, block frozen shrimp in several forms such as head-on shrimp, head-less shrimp, peeled tail-on shrimp, peeled shrimp and peeled de-veined butterfly shrimp, and (c) individually quick frozen (IQF) shrimp which comes in both head-on and head-less forms".
All these products are targeting both local and export markets and are produced under different brand and packaging, targeting direct end-user or retailers.
The ready-to-eat products are scheduled for production late this year.Asked about the secret of success of the shrimp farm and the processing unit, Eng. Al Balla responds in the following words: " Our success comes as a result of more than 18 years of dedicated R&D, experimental and operational efforts. No compromises were made with regard to the protection of the environment in order to sustain the project in the long run. We decided to start from where the others have ended and then we took the lead to develop the existing technologies to suit our own requirments".The success of the NPC project has a special relevance to the Saudi economy in general and its food security in particular. The long-term outlook for food self-sufficiency is far from bright for the Kingdom because of its desert climate and scarcity of water.
Saudi Arabia has made some progress in field crops like wheat and barley, but a conscious decision has now been taken to limit these agricultural pursuits to the minimum. Under these conditions, Saudi Arabia has gone in for huge investments in subsidiary foodstuffs in areas like dairy farming and poultry farming.
In both dairy and poulty sectors Saudi Arabia has some of the world's largest producing units which employ the latest technology and enjoy a high level of producivity. The result has been spectacular, with the country achieving near self-sufficiency in these foodstuffs.
For the last 25 years, many large and small investors have tried their hands on fish and shrimp farming in the various parts of the Kingdom. But several projects have failed over the years, for various reasons, including technical and commercial deficiencies.
No doubt, there have been some successful ventures. The Saudi Fisheries Co. persisted with this activity, with remarkable success. But SFC has a wide range of other business operatons, which include marine fishing, imports of fish and distribution network.
Most of the other farms are relatively smaller operations. It is under these conditions that NPC has come to the forefront. An economically beneficial aspect of its operations is that it is specialising in shrimp farming and has resources and infrastructure to back up large-scale operations, including facilities for a big export activity for the highly competitive global shrimp market.
NPC has given a new sense of confidence to agricultural planners and policy-makers that aquaculture is a viable business proposition, if undertaken with sufficient inputs in research and marketing. Besides, with Saudi Arabia making all-out efforts to bring in foreing capital, NPC's successful experiment in shrimp farming comes as an eye-opener for foreign investors looking for new business opportunities.
Dr P K Pillai
© Saudi Commerce and Economic Review 2004
