PARAVOOR: Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) scientists have bagged the ‘Pillay Aquaculture Award,’ in recognition of their exceptional research competency and professionalism. The Pillay Aquaculture Foundation Indian Chapter (PAFIC) was established in the memory of the late Dr T V R Pillay, a renowned scientist from Kerala, who laid the basics of aquaculture practice in the world while serving at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN.
PAFIC conferred the Pillay Aquaculture Award - 2011 to a team of scientists led by Dr K Sunil Mohamed. Dr T S Velayudhan, Dr V Kripa, Dr P K Asokan, Dr P Laxmilatha, Mathew Joseph, Jenni Sharma, V G Surendranathan, M P Sivadasan and P S Alloysious of CMFRI were the other members of the team.
The award, which includes a cash prize and citation, was presented to the CMFRI team by Dr B Meenakumari, Deputy Director General (Fisheries) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, during the recently concluded 9th Indian Fisheries Forum at Chennai. The CMFRI scientists were able to take the dormant technologies of mussel and oyster farming and convert them into a source of income for coastal fishing communities and women self-help groups. As a result of a concerted approach coupled with unique technique, commercial mussel and oyster farming could be established in Kerala. In 2009, the total production crossed 20,000 tonnes making India one of the top ten bivalve farming countries in Asia.
The team’s success in commercialising the technologies was mainly due to the active persuasion of the unique synergy developed between technology developers, promoters and credit advancers.