An interface meeting between the ICAR and officials of the UT Administration of Lakshadweep was chaired by Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra which was attended by Mr. Amith Satija, Secretary (Finance), Mr. Shashank Mani Tripathy, Secretary (Agriculture) and Mr. Santhosh Kumar Reddy, Special Secretary (Agriculture) of the UT Administration of Lakshadweep. Dr. P. N. Ananth Senior Scientist and Head, KVK-CMFRI-Lakshadweep presented the achievements of the KVK and Dr. Mohammed Koya, Scientist presented the achievements of ICAR-CMFRI’s work on fisheries of Lakshadweep. Chairing the interface meeting, the DG indicated to carry out works on promotion of nutria-gardens, soil-less media, water conservation, coconut value addition and processing along with the expertise of ICAR Institutes in the region.On 19 April, 2022 Dr Trilochan Mohapatra visited the pilot-scale sea cage farm of ICAR-CMFRI at Agatti Island funded by the National Fisheries Development Board, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. The project started since June 2020 intended to demonstrate farming of commercially important fishes and shellfishes like Pompano and Lobsters in the lagoons of Lakshadweep using cage enclosures. Lakshadweep atolls and open seas have immense potential for sea cage farming owing to having shallow and calmer lagoons of nearly 20,000 ha. The DG interacted with the partner farmers and the scientists and verified the potential of turning it into a scalable enterprise in Lakshadweep. He appreciated the efforts of ICAR-CMFRI for its proactive demonstration and capacity building in farming fishes in the sea in various parts of the country including remote territory of Lakshadweep.
CMFRI adjudged as best research institute under ICAR
CMFRI wins
ICAR’s highest award
The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) has been adjudged as the best research institute of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The CMFRI won the Sardar Patel Outstanding ICAR institutions award, the highest award of the ICAR in the category of the large institutions with a cash prize of Rs 10 Lakhs, a Silver Plaque, Certificate and Citation.This is in recognition of CMFRI’s excellent performance in marine fisheries research during the period from 2014 to 2019.
Certificate
This is the second time CMFRI bagging this prestigious award. Various cutting edge research activities including development of mariculture technologies such as open sea cage fish farming, seaweed farming, integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) and breeding and seed production technologies for marine food fish and ornamental fishes which were aimed to enhance the income of fishermen helped CMFRI achieving the highest ranking among more than 110 agricultural and allied research institutes in the country. CMFRI’s efforts on preparing a range of policy guidelines, including the works on minimum legal size (MLS), National Policy on Mariculture and ecosystem-based management towards the sustainable utilization of marine fisheries resources were well appreciated. Its research initiatives in developing nutraceutical products from marine organisms to treat type 2 diabetes, arthritis, obesity, thyroid and hypertension also played a major role in winning the award. In addition, the institute exhibited leadership in winning several externally funded research projects such as National Brood bank for Cobia and Silver pompano and a Centre of Excellence and Innovation funded by the DBT. The institute also obtained many patents during the period.
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