Bhubaneswar: Sri Pratap Chandra Sarangi, Hon’ble Union Minister of State, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying (FAHD) and Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME), Govt. of India visited ICAR-CIFA and reviewed freshwater aquaculture research being carried out by ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Bhubaneswar.
He underscored the need to develop sustainable technology for better production keeping the safety of the environment in mind and to carry out result-oriented research. He suggested that CIFA should sign MoU with State & UT Departments for faster dissemination of aquaculture technologies. The minister also had an interaction meeting with the scientists in the afternoon. He urged the scientists to develop technology packages to attract rural unemployed youth; develop entrepreneurship and contribute to realizing the Prime Minister’s vision of Doubling Farmers’ Income by the year 2022.
The Minister also visited CIFA farm facilities and interacted with researchers working on Bio-floc, tilapia farming, Jayanti Rohu, Carps, Minor carps, Aquaponics, Murrel, Genetically Improved Scampi, Ornamental fish, Feed mill, KVK, etc. He inaugurated Recirculatory Aquaculture System, a new facility at the institute. He showed keen interest in diversified fish species including Tilapia, Pengba etc. In this occasion three e-booklets and one book entitled “Strategic Action Plan for Increasing the Freshwater Aquaculture Production in India” was released by the Hon’ble Minister. The Minister addressed the employees of ICAR-CIFA and also released a set of 16 Odia leaflets on popular aquaculture technologies. The leaflets are meant for creating awareness among the farmers about scientific aquaculture practices.. The interaction of the Minister was live telecasted across all KVKs and District Fisheries Offices of Odisha.
The Minister was accompanied by Sri Sagar Mehra, Joint Secretary (Inland Fisheries), Dept. of Fisheries, FAHD, Govt. of India; Dr. J. Balaji, IAS, Joint Secretary (Marine Fisheries), Dept. of Fisheries, FAHD, Govt. of India; Dr. C. Suvarna, IFS, Chief Executive, NFDB; Dr. Pawan Kumar Agrawal, Vice chancellor, OUAT, Bhubaneswar and Sri R. Raghu Prasad, IFS, Commissioner cum Secretary of Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Department, Govt. of Odisha . Dr. S. K. Swain, Director, ICAR-CIFA welcomed the dignitaries to the meeting. He also made a brief presentation about institute’s research accomplishments as well as progress on flagship schemes viz., STC, SCSP, NEH, Mera Gaon Mera Gaurav, Swachh Bharat Aviyaan, etc. The Institute has launched official WhatsApp channel and started offering training programmes virtually. During Jan-March 2021 the institute will be conducting as many as 23 virtual training programmes on various aspects of freshwater aquaculture. It would also create awareness about the PM Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) among fish farmers.
Dr. B. C. Mohapatra, Principal Scientist, ICAR-CIFA coordinated the visit of the Hon’ble Union Minister and proposed vote of thanks.
