PFFI — The origin
The Collaborative Shrimp Disease Investigation Program was initiated as a farmer-led, science-driven effort under the leadership of the Prawn Farmers Federation of India to systematically investigate emerging shrimp disease issues and provide practical, field-level solutions.
As the program grew, the need arose for greater transparency in fund management, a structured mechanism to receive contributions, CSR and institutional funding, and long-term sustainability. A Section 8 not-for-profit was incorporated as the Shrimp Health Foundation in February 2026.
The Foundation is not a replacement for CoSDIP or PFFI. It is a strengthening mechanism — created to support, scale and sustain the work already being carried out.
How they work together
On the ground
Continues to lead and execute CoSDIP and related field programs. Provides on-ground coordination and farmer engagement across India’s nine coastal farming states. Headquartered in Hyderabad, Telangana. Established 2007.
Institutional platform
Acts as the funding and governance platform. Ensures transparency, compliance, and scalability. Incorporated and operates out of Pondicherry, where the General Secretary is based. Supports CoSDIP and future programs.
Philosophy
Shrimp health is the route.
Farmer wellbeing is the purpose.
The Foundation works on shrimp health because shrimp health directly determines farmer health — financially, emotionally, and operationally. The Foundation does not exist to promote research for its own sake. It exists to ensure that science reaches the field in a form that farmers can use.
Mission
The Shrimp Health Foundation is a farmer-centred institutional platform. It is farmer-first in purpose, science-supported in method, collaborative in structure, and practical in outcome. Farmer distress is converted into structured investigation. Field observations are converted into scientific questions. Scientific findings are converted into practical guidance. That is the bridge the Foundation builds.
Every program is guided by one central question: How do we make shrimp farming more predictable, more resilient, and less punishing for farmers?
Vision
Its work helps create a future where farmers are not left alone when unexplained crop failures occur.
That is the reason the Foundation exists. Not merely to study shrimp. Not merely to manage funds. Not merely to support one program. But to protect the stability of shrimp farming as a livelihood.
Its purpose is continuity. Its method is collaboration. Its discipline is transparency. Its measure of success is practical impact for farmers.
The Foundation is not a commercial platform. It is not a company-specific platform. It is not a promotional platform. It is not merely a diagnostic service. It is not only a disease-focused body. It is not a research organisation disconnected from the field. It is not a substitute for farmer organisations, scientific institutions, regulators, or industry bodies.
Core principles
Governance
First signatory
President, Prawn Farmers Federation of India
Second signatory
General Secretary, PFFI · Program Director, CoSDIP
Advisory Board
An Advisory Board of respected industry leaders, scientists, and sector stakeholders provides guidance and strategic input on a non-executive basis, with no financial or statutory liability. Constituted in April 2026. Individual names will be published when that content is released.
People
Partners in the field-to-lab investigation. Profiles to follow.
Monitoring, sampling and farmer engagement on study farms.
Holds the investigation together across institutions and crop cycles.
Funding model
The Foundation is designed to receive voluntary contributions and grants, enable CSR funding from companies, and ensure transparent utilisation of funds. No invoicing or commercial billing is undertaken — contributions are support towards sector development initiatives.
Support SHF