Odisha govt to set up Fisheries University

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has decided to set up a Fisheries University in the state.

It was discussed at a high-level meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi on Thursday.

Fisheries and Animal Resource Development secretary Bishnupada Sethi said the proposed University would create a technical and scientific network connecting individual farmers, organizations, and institutes.

“It would cater to the basic requirements like delivering professional courses, creating technical manpower, and skilling the farmers through direct exposure and designing the best practices,” said Sethi.

Development Commissioner R. Balakrishnan that it should be developed as a state of art University focusing on direct linkage with farmers and field applications.

Chief Secretary Padhi directed the fisheries department to focus on short and medium-term strategies for boosting the farmers’ income in coming 3 to 5 years.

Padhi also asked the fisheries department to develop inland fishery as another source of income for a large number of farmers’ families in rural areas.

Presently, Odisha contributes about 5% of the fish production in the country and about 17% of the value of Indian maritime product export.

Odisha has 480 km coastline along with 24,000 square km of area within continental shelf. Freshwater resources are estimated at 6.79 lakh ha comprising of 1.28 lakh ha of ponds, 2 lakh ha of reservoirs, 1.80 lakh ha of lakes, swamps and 1.71 lakh ha of rivers and canals. Brackish water resources are around 4.18 lakh ha.