College of Fisheries Tripura’s research on antibiotics replacements in fish fodder

AGARTALA: The College of Fisheries Tripura, affiliated with Central Agriculture University Imphal, is conducting a research study to replace the use of antibiotics with medicated fish fodder developed through scientific processes.

Speaking exclusively to ANI on Wednesday, Dean of the College Professor Arun Bhai Patel said, "We are doing multiple studies and one of them is related to replacing antibiotics with medicated feed. We have also inventoried the whole fish species found in the whole North Eastern states in our fish museum."

"Around 303 varieties of fish that are available in all eight districts of the state could be found here in one place at the fish museum developed here in the fishery college. We have travelled extensively to collect all the varieties," he said.

Notably, Fisheries College Tripura observed National Fish Farmers Day and to mark the occasion, a workshop on blue transformation was held.

In the workshop, stakeholders of different levels attended and exchanged their thoughts with the fish farmers.

"The purpose of the workshop is three-fold. Firstly, to bring the farmers and hear their issues; besides, entrepreneurs, financiers and other stakeholders have also been invited here to find out solutions to the problems. The larger motive is to bring a blue transformation to the state," said the dean.

Stating that, despite aquaculture being an integral part of the society and communities living here, scientific fish culture has not yet been properly adopted, said Patel.

"For example, feed costs are very high in Tripura. To tackle the situation, we are working on some projects that can lead to food abundance. For instance, some crops can be used for fish fodder and can be grown easily by the farmers themselves. We are also working on increasing the profitability of the farmers through the introduction of more varieties of fish and the preparation of quality seed," he added.

Speaking about the research, he said that apart from the medicated feed, the institution is working to introduce alternatives for traditional feed such as mustard oil cakes, maize and wheat.

"We have found that with slight modifications, we can use Colocasia and Tapioca as viable alternatives to the traditional fish feed. We have also discovered a whole new technique for Shidol (fermented fish) preparations in much less time and in better hygienic conditions. In addition, Pengua fish is also being introduced at a larger scale in the state," Dean Patel told ANI. Among the others, Professor Ranjit Sharma Director of Extension Central Agricultural University, Imphal, General Manager NABARD, Head of ICAR-R BU Choudhury et al attended the event. (ANI)

Also read: Cash crunch major hurdle in fish production: Department of Fisheries (sentinelassam.com)

Also Watch: