THE Myanmar Shrimp Association will start its next freshwater prawn farming course on July 30 as part of its plan to double freshwater prawn production in the next two years.

U Hla Maung Shwe, who was re-elected last month as chairman of the association, said applications are now being accepted for the two-week course. The fee of K21,200 includes membership in the association. The fee reflects only 40 percent of the expenses of the course for each student but the association will cover the remaining 60pc.

Since 2004 the association has held four such courses in which a total of 379 students have been trained.

The association is also planning to hold a 10-day workshop next year to provide additional training for outstanding students from the two-week courses, said an executive member of the association.

“The workshop will include a combination of hands-on experience in prawn farming and collecting data, so the students we choose will need to be research-minded,” he said.

He said 15 to 20 students will be chosen in August for the workshop and will have to attend a preparation course where they will learn how to get the most out of the workshop, how to collect data and how to prepare a research paper.
After the preparatory course the students will return to their own farms to collect data and write a research paper to be presented at next year’s workshop.

The association plans to publish a book containing the papers as well as the findings from the workshop.