Now Reading: Two Kochi postgraduates win ₹10 lakh grant for mud-crab startup
-
01
Two Kochi postgraduates win ₹10 lakh grant for mud-crab startup
Arundas N H and Aswathy T, postgraduates of the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (KUFOS), have won the Fisheries Startup Grand Challenge 2.0, run by the Department of Fisheries, along…
Arundas N H and Aswathy T, postgraduates of the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (KUFOS), have won the Fisheries Startup Grand Challenge 2.0, run by the Department of Fisheries, along with a Rs 10 lakh innovation grant. Their Kochi-based startup STEM Systems, founded in 2022, developed a mud-crab bucket fattening system that keeps crabs in separate containers to prevent cannibalism.
The startup also created Aquamin, an artificial brackish-water mineral formulation, allowing mud-crab farming in inland areas without access to natural saline water. By October 2024, ICAR-CCARI records show roughly 300 farmers were trained and around 120 had started fattening units across Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra. STEM Systems supplies seed, minerals, training, and operates a buy-back arrangement for market-ready crabs, including jumbo ones over 1 kg.
Indian Opinion Analysis
India's fisheries sector contributes about 1% to the national GDP, but crab farming is a tiny, high-value niche. Over 80% of India's mud-crab supply still comes from wild capture, making scalable farming a strategic gap. The ₹10 lakh grant from a central government challenge is modest, but the real breakthrough for STEM Systems may be the buy-back model: it removes the biggest risk for small farmers, who otherwise struggle with market access. The next signal to watch is how many of the 120 current farmers scale up in the next 18 months, when the incubation support runs out.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
