Reducing On-Farm Food Losses
In the OIC Member Countries
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Tiger shrimp seeds as hatcheries lack the motivation and capital to improve the quality of seed
production (CBI 2012). Input suppliers provide fish fry and fingerlings. Most of the centres for
fingerling production are located in Java, in Sukabumi and Subang, and these centres often rely
on government or donor support (CBI 2012).
Shrimp production reached over 400,000 tonnes in 2008 but declined to 338,000 tonnes in 2009
due to bad weather and disease, especially those caused by Infectious Myonecrosis Virus
(IMNV). Production in Indonesia has since recovered.
The decision to harvest the fish from a pond or cage is made based on the following reasons:
 The fish has attained the right size at which it gives maximum profit in the market.
 Prevailing market opportunities, such as Ramadan or a local religious festival day,
increase demand and potential profit, but the opportunity may be lost with delay.
Prices for shrimp largely depend upon size, so management of the production and feeding is
critical for maximizing potential profits. As written in Antara News in 2013, the prices from the
farms are Rp 75,000 per kg for smaller shrimp, with 70 shrimps per kg and Rp 86,000 per kg for
medium size with 50 shrimps per kg and Rp 49,000 for the largest ones with 40 shrimps per kg.
In 2012, prices averaged of Rp 48,000 per kg.
Shrimp farms are usually located in remote areas and most processors do not regard it as
economically viable to collect directly from the small farmers. Therefore middlemen, also called
collectors, traders, or Tokeh, are involved. The harvested shrimps are either brought to the
agreed collection point by the farmers or are collected by the middlemen directly from the
farmers. In any case, cooling boxes with ice are only used occasionally during transport. Delays
can cause higher on-farm losses. The middlemen typically come to the farm and visually check
and sort the shrimps according to quality and take them to sell them to processors or in a local
market (CBI 2012).
According to the EU (2010), hygiene and food safety is still unsatisfactory at the middlemen
level. The Good Handling Practices which are promoted by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and
Fisheries (MMAF) are generally not implemented; ice is not sufficiently used; and the weight of
the shrimp is purposely increased by storing the product in water without ice. There is not a
good link between MMAF and most middlemen, resulting in a lack of systematic information
flow to the middlemen and insufficient knowledge of Good Handling Practices.
The middlemen have a dominant position within the value chain of pangasius and tilapia, and
many work to distribute the fish products from the farmers to processors and local markets. In
the provinces, most are small entrepreneurs serving local markets, who have a limited
knowledge of market demands. Very basic means of transport (bicycles and motorbikes),
storage, and marketing of the products are used. The lack of ice and cold storage options
particularly affects the fish quality and lowers the bargaining power of fish farmers as the