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Stakeholder consultation-cum-training programme on ‘Cage culture in Umiam reservoir, Meghalaya’
A stakeholder consultation-cum-training programme on ‘Cage culture in Umiam reservoir, Meghalaya’ was organized by ICAR-CIFRI, Regional Centre, Guwahati in collaboration with Fisheries Division of ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam at Umniuh Khwan village of Umiam, Meghalaya under the TSP programme of ICAR-CIFRI. The programme was organized under the overall guidance of Dr. B. K. Das, Director, ICAR-CIFRI, Barrackpore; Dr. S. K. Das, Principal Scientist & Head, Fisheries Division, ICAR RC for NEH Region, Umiam and Dr. B. K. Bhattacharjya, Head (Acting), ICAR-CIFRI RC, Guwahati. The Department of Fisheries, Govt. of Meghalaya was represented by Mr. Paul Tariang, Superintendent of Fisheries, Ri-Bhoi district, Meghalaya. Scientists and technical personnel of the two Institutes namely Dr. Dipesh Debnath (Sr. Scientist), Dr. Pronob Das, Ms. Niti Sharma, Ms. Peetambari Devi, Mr. Gojendro Singh (Scientists), Mr. Alakesh Das (TO) and Mr. Prasanta Mahanta (STA) acted as resource persons in the programme. The programme was attended by 50 fishers and farmers of locality under Ri-Bhoi Farmers’ Union along with Mr. D. Mazzao, President of the Union and Mr. Brightstar K, Secretary.
Mr. Brightstar K, Secretary of Ri-Bhoi Farmers’ Union welcomed the guests and participants for the programme. Dr. B. K. Bhattacharjya explained the purpose of the day-long programme. He informed the participants that cage culture in Umiam reservoir of Meghalaya is being initiated by ICAR-CIFRI, Barrackpore in collaboration with the ICAR RC for NEHR, Umiam and DoF, Meghalaya for the first time. It was possible because of the overall leadership of Dr. J. K. Jena, DDG (Fisheries), ICAR, New Delhi and initiative of Dr. B. K. Das, Director, ICAR-CIFRI, Barrackpore in sanctioning six CIFRI-GI cage unit (100 m3/cage). He stated that cage culture in reservoirs is coming up in a big way in states like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra and Mizoram through technological back-stropping by ICAR-CIFRI, Barrackpore. Dr. S. Hazarika, Principal Scientist & Nodal Officer, TSP, ICAR RC for NEHR, Umiam stated that many welfare schemes of Govt. of India are implemented in NE states with moderate success mainly because of discontinuation of any schemes once the government support is withdrawn. He urged the fishers to continue cage culture even after withdrawal of government support so that it sets a good example for the fishers’ communities. Mr. Paul Tariang, Superintendent of Fisheries, Ri-Bhoi district stated that Meghalaya has sizeable fisheries resources in the form of reservoirs, rivers, wetlands and ponds. However, Meghalaya still meets much of its demand for fish consumed in the state from outside. He encouraged the fishers to take utmost interest for making this project a success even beyond the project period so that similar government support may be expected in future. Dr. S. K. Das thanked Dr. B. K. Das, Director, ICAR-CIFRI for sanctioning the cages, which is the first of its kind in Umiam reservoir. He stated that the ICAR-CIFRI and ICAR RC for NEHR came together for this initiative for the benefit of the tribal fishers of the region. Dr. Pronob Das motivated the fishers to take utmost care of the stocked fish in cages. Mr. D. Mazzao proposed the vote of thanks. He thanked the two ICAR Institutes for implementing cage culture in Umiam reservoir. He also urged his fishers to work sincerely as per the given guidelines for success of cage culture.
During the technical session on cage culture, resource persons from the two Institutes interacted with the fishers and explained them in simple local language with the help of a translator on different aspect of Cage culture including feeding schedules and monitoring.
