Asia’s pond failure problemAs Robins McIntosh, executive vice president at Charoen Pokphand Foods, warned, Southeast Asia’s competitiveness is being eroded by spiralling production costs. “The highest cost for Asia right now is pond failure. The whole aim of Asia right now is to reduce pond failure,” he said, noting that Asia’s pond failure rate is estimated to be approximately 25 percent, compared to less than 5 percent in Ecuador. Genetics can increase growth and [lead to] more cycles,” explained McIntosh, pointing out that India adopts similar densities to Ecuador. He also urged governments to rethink growth targets: “I’ve always had a problem with the governments insisting on more and more.