ICAR-CIBA organized a Special Swachhta Campaign (SSC) and inauguration of demonstration units on polyculture of shrimp, fish and crab units at Kovalam Experimental Station (KES) on 29th October 2021. About 50 participants including Irular tribal aqua farmers, farm women, fishers and CIBA scientists and staff participated in the event. In his welcome address Dr. C.V. Sairam, Principal Scientist and SIC, SSD formally welcomed the participants and emphasized the importance of SSC and economic importance of polyculture in brackishwater aquaculture. Dr. P. Mahalakshmi, Principal Scientist and Nodal Officer, Scheduled Tribe Component (STC) and Swacchta Bharat Programmes explained in detail the events organized under STC, CIBA from 2nd October to 29th October 2021. She also explained in detail on the output and outcome of STC activities in Gujarat and West Bengal and asked the aqua farmers and farm women to maintain similar tempo in the programme implementation. Dr. S. Kannappan, Principal Scientist and SIC, KES, Kovalam shared on the role of KES Kovalam for the development of tribal community in the neighborhood and asked them to utilize the facilities of the centre for their economic empowerment. Dr. K. Ambasankar, Principal Scientist and SIC, Nutrition Section highlighted the importance of feed and feed management in polyculture farming in brackishwater aquaculture.
During the occasion, seeds of Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer), Mono angel (Monodactylus argenteus), Mud crab (Scylla serrata), various Shrimp species viz., Indian white shrimp (Penaeus indicus), black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon), kuruma shrimp (Penaeus japonicus), speckled shrimp (Metapenaeus monoceros) were stocked in ponds. These demonstrations would provide the technical know-how of scientific management to the tribal community and employment opportunities for livelihood. The Irular community farmers were provided with tools and accessories for adoption of Swatchh Bharat drive in their village. Dr. Akshaya Panigrahi, Dr. Shyne Anand, Dr. R. Geetha, Dr. N.S. Sudheer, Shri. T. Sivaramakrishnan, Shri. Dany Thomas, Shri. R. Arvind and Dr. S. Sivagnanam also attended the event. At the end, Dr. P. Mahalakshmi the Nodal Officer, STC and Coordinator of the Swacchta Bharat Programmes proposed the vote of thanks.
