India. His journey from being just a fisheries graduate to becoming an industry trailblazer is quite motivational. Dr. Sharma’s commitment and tenacity have been primarily responsible for changing rural landscapes Dr. Manoj Mohanlal Sharma played a major part in the transformation of shrimp aquaculture in and improving coastal communities through sustainable shrimp farming.Fish and aquatic life always excited him even as a young boy born in Nanded, Maharashtra – this is where it all started for Dr. Manoj Sharma. With Bachelor’s Fisheries Science from the Science College, Nanded and a Masters from Central Institute of Fisheries Education (CIFE), Mumbai, he prepared the base for his astonishing career. Afterwards, he later on did his Ph.D. at Ramanand University, Nanded to improve his knowledge.
In 1994, Dr. Manoj Sharma began his adventure into shrimp aquaculture by living at Olpad, Gujarat. He faced resistance initially but strongly advocated for the use of shrimps to develop rural areas that were skeptical about its potentiality. He introduced scientific approaches to breeding giant freshwater prawns besides culturing them successfully thus opening doors towards brackish water shrimp farming. Surat Aquaculture Farmers Association (SAFA) was formed under his visionary leadership bringing together farmers who practice sustainable shrimp culture in that region The remarkable shrimp production levels achieved in Gujarat with the assistance and authority of Dr. Sharma surpassed the average national level.In 2005, Dr. Manoj Sharma established Mayank Aquaculture Private Limited (MAPL) as one of the first shrimp farming ventures which has since flourished under his direction. During that time, through MAPL he was able to not only produce superior quality shrimps but also advocated for ethical and environmentally friendly practices.
Dr. Manoj Sharma is a highly sought after international speaker in conferences and seminars due to his work on sustainable aquaculture and transformative power of probiotics.However, despite this challenge, Doctor Manoj Sharma still remains deeply convinced that honesty, hard work, dedication and patience are key pillars for success.His latest venture called “Zhingalala”,. It is a pesco-vegetarian restaurant where he envisages exploiting huge domestic market in India while cherishing the journey from pond to plate.Dr. Manoj Sharma has been awarded numerous prestigious prizes and accolades in shrimp aquaculture industry including being referred to as “Father of Blue Revolution in Gujarat”. His remarkable story is something worth mirroring for any upcoming entrepreneur or anyone who wants to make it big in the sector.