Chairman MPEDA addressing the function                     Secretary General AARDO, New Delhi delivering address

Presidential address by Director, ICAR-CIFT

Kochi based ICAR-CIFT organized of 4-day long AARDO sponsored international virtual training programme, second in a row on “Value chain management in fisheries” from 13-16 September, 2021 for strengthening the research and technology collaboration of India with AARDO member countries in the realm of fishing and fish processing. The programme received overwhelming response from AARDO member countries as per the feedback of the 73 participants from 22 AARDO member countries in Asia and Africa.

Speaking at the online inaugural function of the programme, the Guest of Honour Shri K.S. Srinivas, IAS, Chairman MPEDA, Kochi lauded the contributions of ICAR-CIFT in the domain of fish processing and confirmed that the partnership of ICAR-CIFT with AARDO can foster the collaboration to harness the potential of harvest and post- harvest fisheries. In this context, he highlighted that as India has established its position as the one of the major shareholders in fresh fish export to foreign markets, so it is high time we must also give emphasis on exporting value added fish products from Indian shore for doubling the producers’ income.

The other Guest of Honour, His Excellency Dr. Manoj Nordeosingh, Secretary General African –Asian Rural Development Organisation (AARDO), New Delhi in his address, accentuated that many developing countries failed to maximise the value of fish owing to various constraints like large-scale post-harvest loss and challenges in production, distribution and marketing due to lack of technologies that creates an alarming situation in aquaculture value chain. The Secretary General said that the programme may give an impetus to our effort to bring a balance in the Asian – African region in fishery value chain management system that may help in furthering the value of fish, its quality and distribution along the value chain. Highlighting the keen interest of various countries, he said that AARDO may facilitate the technology collaboration between ICAR and AARDO member countries in its future endeavour.

Presiding over the event, Dr Ravishankar C.N., Director, ICAR-CIFT emphasised on the importance of fisheries sector in ensuring nutritional security and also the need for reducing post-harvest loss in fisheries sector by developing better cold chain facilities. He assured that ICAR-CIFT with its rich legacy in developing innovative, high-end post-harvest technologies in fisheries will meet the expectations of the participant AARDO countries through this online training programme and suggest innovative ways of overhauling the livelihood of million stakeholders along the fisheries value chain. The programme was attended by resource scientists from ICAR-CIFT and officials from AARDO, New Delhi.