The  BBSRC-funded IMAQulate project held its second annual progress and planning meeting in  Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh, from 9th-15th January 2018. Partners from the UK, India, Bangladesh and Kenya met to discuss the progress made in situation analyses of PHP use on farms, hatcheries and nurseries, as well as microbiological analyses of PHP products and extraction and isolation of saponins from a variety of natural sources to test potential beneficial effects on fish immunity. 

Plans were discussed for upcoming trials of PHP products in India, Bangladesh and Kenya. These trials will assess the efficacy of PHP products in hatcheries and nurseries, and the continuing effects that these have as the stock progress to on-farm growout ponds. Further microbiological analysis of PHP products will be carried out in order to determine the content of such products and whether or not this is consistent with the manufacturer claims.

The IMAQulate team are grateful for the hospitality and support of Ananda Group throughout the meeting. We are looking forward to collaborating with Ananda during the upcoming PHP trials in Andhra Pradesh. 

The IMAQulate team were given a guided tour of Ananda's shrimp farm, hatchery and laboratory near Bhimavaram. This gave the team a good understanding of the shrimp farming process and the effort that is given to health management throughout the lifecycle of shrimp. 

The team were grateful for the input throughout the meeting of Dr Gopal, whose research is conducted through the Ananda Raju Foundation.