Chidiyatapu, Oct. 23: The Fisheries Department of A&N Administration in association with the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) has established Seaweed Cultivation Demonstration Project at Chidiyatapu. The Chief Secretary, A&N Administration, Shri Keshav Chandra, IAS today inaugurated the project in the presence of the Commissioner-cum Secretary (Fisheries), Smt. Nandini Paliwal, Secretary (Fisheries), Shri Vishwendra, Director (NIOT), Prof. B. Ramakrishnan, Director (Fisheries), Ms Jagtap Kalyani Rajendra, senior officers of A&N Administration & NIOT and fishermen community.
In his address, the Chief Secretary stated that the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has made a clarion call for mass cultivation of seaweed. The Chief Secretary said, seaweed is used for production of umpteen numbers of things which also include cosmetics, colors, bio-plastics & food items etc. The Chief Secretary said, keeping in mind the high value and demand of seaweed all over the World, the A&N Administration decided to associate with the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), so that the A&N Administration demonstrates the seaweed cultivation first to make sure that its cultivation is possible in A&N Islands. He further stated that in the first phase, NIOT has identified sea area of 5 hectares, further 5 hectares will be covered by Fisheries Department. The locally available seaweed (Garcilaria Edulis) will be cultivated in these 10 hectares of sea area, so that it does not cause any damage to the prevailing eco-system of the Islands, the Chief Secretary said. People involved in its cultivation will be benefitted and the process of cultivation is also very easy, which will be ready for harvest within 30 days, the Chief Secretary added.
The Chief Secretary said that the Administration’s effort is to take up the seaweed cultivation in a broader scale, so that A&N Islands stands in the first place all over the country and becomes a role model in seaweed cultivation. The Chief Secretary said that efforts will be made to take up Seaweed cultivation at South Point, Shoal Bay, North Bay, Kodiyaghat, Chidiyatapu, Pokadera, Durgapur Jetty. He also showered all praise for the effort made by the NIOT, the Commissioner-cum- Secretary (Fisheries), Secretary (Fisheries) and others for the seaweed cultivation project in Isles.
Earlier, the Chief Secretary also took part in the deployment of seaweed tube-nets into the cultivation rafts. The Chief Secretary alongwith the officials visited the stalls displaying Seaweeds and its product. The Secretary (Fisheries), Shri Viswendra & Prof. B. Ramakrishnan, Director, NIOT signed an MoU regarding the Seaweed Cultivation Project on the occasion.
In his address on the occasion, the Secretary (Fisheries), Shri Viswendra said that the complete project of seaweed cultivation was conceived during the review meeting of the Fisheries Department being taken by the Chief Secretary on every Saturday at Secretariat. He said, as per the initial conception, the NIOT was provided 5 hectares of sea area last year for technology stabilization and after stabilization in the next phase, the Fisheries Department, as per the direction of the Chief Secretary, took initiative to establish a demo Seaweed Farm at Chidiyatapu which was inaugurated by the Chief Secretary today. He said that the Seaweed cultivation will be propagated in a broader scale as per the new ‘Comprehensive Fisheries Development Policy’.
Earlier, welcoming the chief guest and others present on the occasion, Prof. B. Ramakrishnan, Director, NIOT outlined the activities of NIOT. He said, in recent years, a total of 11,000 species of seaweed were recorded globally, out of which, 865 seaweed taxa are reported from India. The Seaweed diversity of A&N Islands is endowed with 244 species belonging to 100 genera of which 58 taxa are recognized for their importance in various aspects, he added.