ICAR-CIBA formed a strategic alliance with young entrepreneurs for establishing a seabass fingerlings production nursery rearing unit and for consultancy services on fish feed processing and production at Nellore, AP. Diversification of brackishwater aquaculture is gaining considerable momentum in India in general and Andhra Pradesh in particular. Various species of finfish is being attempted for culture in brackishwater in the state of AP. The major bottleneck for the large scale propagation of seabass aquaculture is the availability of stockable fingerlings and cost effective & quality feeds. CIBA has entered into series of MOUs with state governments/ private entrepreneurs for the production of seabass seed and feed. In this context, the current initiative is to establish a nursery rearing facilities and small scale feed mill to process indigenous formulated feeds for use in farmed species by signing a MoU on 13th March 2023 at CIBA, HQ, Chennai.
During the event, Dr. Kuldeep Kumar Lal, Director, CIBA emphasised that seed and feed are the two major inputs essentially required for the farmers for large scale adoption of seabass farming and impressed upon the quality of feed vis-a-vis the cost of production and also highlighted the momentum in seabass culture especially the scientific farming using hatchery produced seed and formulated feed. Mr. B. Mohan Reddy & Mr. M. Kiran Kumar as joint partners, opined that there is a considerable demand for quality fingerlings and cost effective feeds for seabass aquaculture. Dr. M. Kailasam, Principal Scientist, Fish Culture Division highlighted the genesis of this initiative and the uniqueness of this MOU where in simultaneously nursery rearing and feed production is being taken up. Dr. K. Ambasankar, Principal Scientist and team leader for Nutrition and Feed biotechnology programs of CIBA briefed about the significance of this initiative and opined that the success of this small scale feed mill would pave the way for diversification and growth of the sector in a faster trajectory. The Institute Technology Management (ITMU)-ABI Unit of CIBA coordinated the event and Dr.P.K.Patil Principal Scientist & SIC-ITMU highlighted the success of the CIBA technologies taken up by the entrepreneurs and proposed the vote of thanks.
