Principal Secretary (Animal Husbandry and Fisheries) Manmohan Singh held discussions with officials on the prospects of increasing fish cultivation and export opportunities in the sector to boost revenues.
Tilapia, which is the second most sought after variety in the international market, should be raised in large quantity in coastal districts, said Mr. Manmohan Singh.
Dr. Singh along with Marine Products Exports Development Authority (MPEDA) Deputy Director (Aquaculture) S. Kandan and Krishna District Fisheries department Deputy Director P. Jaya Rao visited the ponds being raised by MPEDA at Manikonda village in the district on Tuesday.
The Principal Secretary inquired the officials about GIFT Tilapia cultivation, raising hatcheries, supply of brood stock, issuance of licenses to aqua farmers for raising Tilapia, local consumption and sales in domestic market and other details. He visited the hatchery and brood stock points being raised by Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Aquaculture (RGCA), a research wing of MPEDA. Tilapia fish project in-charge B. Appala Naidu, Assistant Project Managers D.V.S.N. Raju and other staff explained the activities of RGCA.
The team interacted with the aqua farmers of West Bengal, Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, who were undergoing training on Tilapia culture at the Centre.
The Principal Secretary assured steps to speed up licensing process and asked farmers to opt for fresh water fish cultivation, which had good demand in the US, Europe and other markets.
Appreciating the RGCA for imparting training to farmers across the country, he asked the officers to organise more training programmes to the farmers and encourage them in taking up Tilapia cultivation.
Junior Project Manager Srinivas, Assistant Project Officer Mathew, Assistant Technical Managers Guna Shekar and Shiva Kumar accompanied the team.
