KOCHI: Growth in crop sector has been almost achieved. But there exists a tremendous potential for growth in fisheries and livestock sector.Vice-Chancellor of Kerala Agricultural University P Rajendran made the observation after inaugurating the training programme on ‘Recent Trends in harvest and post-harvest technologies in fisheries’ at the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT) on Wednesday.
“Fisheries, which contributes to India’s GDP and supports the livelihood of more than 1.5 crore people directly and indirectly, is an important sector as far as the economies of the state and the country are concerned,’’ he said.
The 15-day training programme is the 11th event in the series of ‘Feed the Future India Triangular Training (FTT-ITT) programme’, a triangular cooperation between India, the US and Africa for adapting technological advances and innovative solutions to address global food security. The joint initiative is funded by USAID and coordinated by the National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), Hyderabad, under the aegis of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
As many as 22 executives representing eight member countries – Afghanistan, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mongolia, Sudan and Uganda – are participating.
CIFT director C N Ravishankar presided over the inaugural session. MANAGE programme manager Ravi Nandi, briefed the gathering on the genesis of the FTT-ITT programme. Head of the Extension, Information and Statistics Division, CIFT, A K Mohanty gave an overview of the training programme. Head of the Biochemistry and Nutrition Division Susheela Mathew welcomed the gathering, while Head of the Fish Processing Division Ashok Kumar proposed a vote of thanks.