Bhubaneswar: A five-day National Training Programme on ‘Fish Feed Technology for Sustainable Aquaculture’ funded by National Fisheries Development Board, Hyderabad, began at ICAR-CIFA campus here Monday.
Fisheries department officials from Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, Telangana and Odisha, the fisheries faculties from several educational institutions, entrepreneurs, progressive fish farmers and students are taking part in the programme.
Its main objective is to train the participants in fish feed production technology and feed management practices in aquaculture, said ICAR-CIFA director BR Pillai. She said that feed is the most critical and vital input in aquaculture as it constitutes 60-70% of the total operational cost. She said supplementary feeding is essential besides pond fertilisation to increase fish production.
She appealed to the participants to spread the knowledge they gained in the training programme to the farmers of their respective regions.
The Fish Nutrition and Physiology Division head of ICAR-CIFA, KN Mohanta, and the Course Director of the training programme, called for establishment of more feed mills of different scale and capacity to cater to the growing demand of fish feed in the country.
The ICAR-CIFA principal scientist and coordinator of the training programme, KC Das, gave an outline of the training programme.