The facility has been set-up for the benefit of clam fisherwomen.
J. Mercykutty Amma, Minister for Fisheries, Harbor Engineering and Cashew Industry, Kerala inaugurated the first Clam Processing Facility set-up by the ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Cochin at the Perumbalam Island in Kerala . The facility has been set-up for the benefit of clam fisherwomen.
Amma appreciated the ICAR-CIFT’s efforts for its successful technology intervention in fisheries to bring the livelihood security which can be a model for the other areas too. Ariff, Adv. Abdul Majeed, Member of Parliament, Alappuzha, Kerala was also present during the occasion.
Dr. Ravishankar C.N., Director, ICAR-CIFT focused on the importance of clam processing facility. He stated “The project has been able to standardize the protocols for processing clam; develop and demonstrate value-added products; design and fabricate customized machinery required for the processing; build capacities of the local people and establish the clam processing facility.”
About Clam processing facility
The clam processing facility is a fully integrated. It includes the depuration tanks system for depurating clams. It also has separate spaces for each unit such as processing hall equipped with tables, flake ice machine, chill room; a cooking-cum-boiler unit for cooking and shucking the clams and a unit with a meat-shell separator for mechanically separating the meat from the shell. It ensures a clean, safe and well-packed product that can fetch a premium price in the market.
Funded by SEED
About 250 families of the village dependent on the clam fishery for their livelihood will be directly benefited from the initiative. The facility was set-up under a project funded by the SEED Division, Department of Science & Technology, New Delhi. The project implemented in a participatory mode involved the Perumbalam Gram Panchayat and the Haritha Farmers’ Club from the village.
