Thursday, 23 September 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
Ecologically sustainable aquaculture based on symbiotic technology is set to revolutionise the coastal aquaculture industry in the country. The aquaculture based on symbiotic technology is a guaranteed way for achieving Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for doubling the aqua farmers’ income, said Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa Fisheries University (TNJFU) vice-chancellor G Sugumar. He was speaking after inaugurating the project on standardised pond-based culture technique for commercially important marine finfishes and pond-based recirculated aquaculture system (RAS) for vannamei shrimp at Chippikulam near Thoothukudi. Sugumar said the initiative launched by Kings Infra in association with the university to promote the project would help the aquaculture farming practice to be truly sustainable in the country. The recirculated aquaculture system (RAS) empowers farmers to utilise water to the maximum sustainable levels by eliminating possible wastage by converting the same to another resource.
Speaking on the occasion, chairman and managing director of Kings Infra, Shaji Baby John said the company aims at training over 5,000 farmers in the coastal region by utilising the technology being developed under this joint collaborative project. Stressing on the importance of doubling farmers’ income for the growth of the economy he said the ecologically sustainable aquaculture provides the best possibility for the coastal farmers to realise the dream of augmenting their income. The joint venture would develop a standard technology on developing the framework for sustainable aquaculture technology in a step-by-step manner incorporating the necessary scientific inputs and technical requirements. The next stage would be creating a knowledge-sharing platform for extending the developed technology to the farming community and also to provide on-farm training, he added.
The Kochi-based Kings Infra has been advocating the need for an environmentally sustainable aquaculture for the past many years. Sustainable aquaculture has considerable scope for growth as 49 per cent of global demand for human consumption of fish is contributed by aquaculture. Aquaculture shrimp contributed 74 per cent value of the Indian seafood exports worth Rs 43,717 crore exports in FY 2021.
