Focus on post-harvest losses equally crucial
Recognizing that for many years, the lack of availability of quality fish seed has been a major concern, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, recently observed that efforts by the research institutes mitigated this problem to an appreciable extent, but there is still huge scope for innovation in this area. Similarly, he called for the need to improve our value-addition to our fish, by maintaining the highest quality, consistency and reliability by bettergrading, quality assurance, and packaging of our product. The Vice President wanted the Indian mariculture to be diversified by investing in innovative products such as nutraceuticals and ornamental fish. Finally, we need to focus on reducing post-harvest losses by creating the required infrastructure like cold storage, he added. The Vice President also wanted municipal bodies to take special interest in creating clean and attractive fish markets.
Expressing concerns over the increasing frequency of extreme weather events caused by climate change, Naidu said that unfortunately its effect is mostly felt by the seas and oceans through sea-level rise, ocean warming, and ocean acidification. “All this is having an adverse impact on marine life and the human lives that depend on it”, he added.
Expressing concerns over the pollution of marine and freshwater, the Vice President said that discarded plastics, other residual waste and industrial chemicals eventually find their way into our water bodies with devastating consequences for aquatic life and the habitats they depend on.
