The Tamil Nadu Dr.Jayalalithaa Fisheries University (TNJFU), Nagapattinam, will open retail outlets named Kayalagam at its fisheries college and research institutes located in Ponneri, Thiruvallur and Thoothukudi and the College of Fisheries Engineering in Nagapattinam district.
Disclosing this in his Independence Day address on the university campus in Nagapattinam on Thursday, S. Felix, Vice-Chancellor, TNJFU, said the retail outlets would be the future store for amplification of marketing of diversified fish products so as to ensure availability of different value-added fish products, promote entrepreneurs in production of value -added fish products and increase per capita fish consumption.
The retail outlets would have basic infrastructure for production, storage, selling and quality testing of fish and fishery products.
The outlets would be established at an investment of ₹.2.50 crore with financial assistance from National Agriculture Development Programme.
A State referral laboratory for fish feed testing and quality certification to provide quality analytical services for nutritional labelling, shelf life calculation, quality certification for aqua feed and feed ingredients would be established at the Institute of Post-Graduate Studies, OMR Campus, Vaniyanchavadi, Chennai, at a cost of ₹2.50 crore.
A Re-circulatory Seebass Aquaculture Technology Park for doubling the income for fish farmers would be established at a cost of ₹3.50 crore at TNJFU campus at Madhavaram under financial assistance of National Agriculture Development Programme.
Dr. Felix said Dr. M.G.R Fisheries College and Research Institute, Ponneri, had been given accreditation for another five years up to 2024 by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, and the College of Fisheries Engineering had got AICTE, New Delhi, approval for two years from 2019.
“We have crossed so many milestones this year. The students’ enrolment in major colleges of the university in 2019 increased from a mere 100 to 360, a 260% jump over 2017,” he said.
The Vice-Chancellor released the first issue of the KVK e-newsletter in English and Tamil for the benefit of farmers to enhance fish production and other agricultural crops.
He also added that TNJFU was in the process of starting more job-oriented courses.
He presented prizes to the best performers among teaching and non-teaching staff.
A. Srinivasan, Registrar, TNJFU, R. Rajendran, Dean, College of Fisheries Engineering, Nagapattinam, and C. Mercy Amrita, Assistant Professor, College of Fisheries Engineering, were among those present.
