Promote aquaculture to propel economic growth in AP State

Vijayawada: Rama Sankar Naik, State Commissioner of Fisheries said that the Government has identified the fisheries sector as a growth engine for social economic development of the State. He spoke at Aquabiz 2018 organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry in association with Department of Fisheries here on Friday.

He said that Vision-2029 programme promotes the effective utilisation of the State’s fishery resources in a consistent manner to achieve sustainable development. In this context, a comprehensive fisheries policy is essential and therefore the Government of AP  has come up with a comprehensive Fisheries Policy, he further said.

He said that the Government has taken several measures to accelerate growth in aquaculture sector. However, he felt that there is a need for better coordination and convergence in the research efforts of various research and development institutions including State Agricultural and Veterinary University, All India Coordinated Research Projects, National Bureaus, NGOs and private sector to tackle demand driven and farmer-oriented issues.

Gadde Anuradha, chairperson, Krishna Zilla Parishad  said that Andhra Pradesh achieved double digit growth because of growth in aquaculture sector. She felt that there is a need to promote domestic consumption of fish within the country. 

Dr Seshaiah V Pamulapati, chairman of Aquabiz 2018 and CMD of PVS Group said that Aquabiz 2018 was focusing on theme “Sustainable Development, Technologies and Opportunities for Fisheries Sector. It is a platform that brought together all the stakeholders such as industry, academia, policy agencies etc. to a common platform.

Dr C Gopal, member secretary of Coastal  Aqua Authority, RVS Rudraraju, chairman of CII-AP, D Tirupathi Raju, convener of Food Processing Panel and Executive Vice-Chairman and others were present.