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Agrotech, Environment, India, Sustainability

Data products and services of RISAT-1A satellite now available for the user community

Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (I/C) Science & Technology; Minister of State (I/C) Earth Sciences; Minister of State PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, today formally released the data products and services of RISAT-1A satellite for the user community.

On the occasion, an MoU was signed between the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Department of Space to develop the Krishi-Decision Support System (Krishi-DSS) using geospatial technologies and related databases for enhancing evidence based decision making capability of all the stakeholders in the agriculture sector.

Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Manoj Ahuja and Secretary, Department of Space, ISRO Chairman and Chairman, Space Commission,S Somnath, Himanshu Pathak,Secretary (DARE) & Director General (ICAR) and other senior officials were present on this occasion. The event was attended by representatives of various user Ministries/ Departments on online mode.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is developing Krishi-DSS, a decision support system, on the lines of Gati Shakti, using RISAT-1A and VEDAS of Department of Space. This will enhance the evidence-based decision-making capability of all the stakeholders in the agriculture sector by way of integration with MOSDAC and BHUVAN (Geo-platform) of ISRO and systems of ICAR.

Addressing on the occasion, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that a new dimension is being added in the field of agriculture. Revolution is being initiated in the agriculture sector through space science. He said that the agreement between the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Space will further enhance the strength of the agriculture sector. If this knowledge reaches the farmers, their production and productivity will increase. The quality of production will increase and export opportunities will also increase.

Tomar said that the agriculture sector is very important in our country and in the whole world. Along with livelihood, this sector is working to speed up the country’s economy and provide employment to a large population. Earlier the sector suffered due to lack of knowledge and private investment. The amount of change, knowledge and investment needed in this area has not happened. This is the reason why the agriculture sector has not progressed as much as it should. In the year 2014, when the Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over the work, he had a desire to take the country forward and work was done to connect it with new dimensions. Because of this, all the departments including the Department of Space changed their working methods, fixed targets and planned effective targets. Its effect is visible in the country today. Agriculture Department is also working on AgriStack. Work is being done to increase the income of the farmer and to save him from losses by forecasting.

Tomar said that crop estimation, allotment to states, survey to declare an area dry, disaster assessment, – all these tasks will become easy after adopting technology. This technology is very beneficial for the agriculture sector as well as the country. After the completion of AgriStack, there will be a revolutionary change in the field of agriculture.

Addressing the gathering, Minister of State, Jitendra Singh said that RISAT-1A data would be extremely useful in developing decision support systems for Agriculture, Bioresources, Environment, Water Resources and Disaster Management. He said efforts were made to make this coordination and cooperation possible.

Jitendra Singh said that the main achievement in the last eight years under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi was to use science for Ease of Living and it should be taken out from the laboratory. He further informed that in the year 2020, the rules of the Department of Space were amended. 

He said that the Prime Minister talks about the “whole of Government” approach, today is a good example of this being achieved. The Ministry of Jal Shakti, Ministry of Home Affairs have been connected through this technique and now Ministry of Agriculture is also getting onboard. When the next generation of RISAT satellites will come, it will have more frequency as well as accuracy. This cooperation should increase further, he added.

Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Manoj Ahuja said that this initiative would help to increase the interventions in Agriculture through the use of emerging technologies and open up the power of data and digital opportunities in the Agriculture sector by fostering an innovation ecosystem. He said, with the help of RISAT-1A data, production and productivity and the quality of produce will also increase.

Secretary, Department of Space, S Somnath said that RISAT-1A is India’s first Radar Imaging Satellite, which was launched on February 14, 2022. RISAT-1A is an all-weather satellite and can penetrate deep into vegetation. It can take high resolution geospatial images regardless of lighting conditions.   He said this MoU will provide the digital foundation for inclusive, self-sustained and sustainable growth of Indian Agriculture.

A technical workshop was also organised by ISRO as part of the event, wherein case studies and potential applications were demonstrated using RISAT-1A data for the benefit of the user community. RISAT-1A data is received, processed and disseminated by the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Hyderabad, through its Bhoonidhi Geoportal.

Data products and services of RISAT-1A satellite

India

ICAR-IIWBR Karnal has initiated a specific research project ‘Breeding high yielding wheat genotypes for stress conditions of warmer regions of India’ on heat-tolerant varieties.

The government aims to promote the use of heat-resistant varieties amongst the farmers through public and private partnership and providing seed directly to the farmers. To promote the use of these varieties, the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barely Research (IIWBR), Karnal under ICAR has signed 250 Memorandum of Agreements (MoAs) for DBW 187 and 191 MoAs for DBW 222 with private companies for seed production. The institute has distributed more than 2500 quintal seeds of DBW 187 and 1,250 quintal seeds of DBW 222 during the crop season, 2021-22.

The ICAR-IIWBR Karnal has initiated a specific research project entitled “Breeding high yielding wheat genotypes for stress conditions of warmer regions of India” on heat tolerant varieties. Besides, ICAR-IIWBR Karnal is also collaborating with International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), Mexico on development of climate resilient wheat varieties.

The wheat varieties DBW187 and DBW222 have been found superior over HD-3086 as far as heat tolerance is concerned. During the crop season 2021-22, the varieties namely DBW187 and DBW222 have shown heat tolerance with yield gain of 3.6 per cent and 5.4 per cent, respectively as compared to HD-3086. The variety PBW 803 developed by the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana is suitable for irrigated timely sown condition and resistant to brown rust as well as moderately resistant to stripe rust. This variety is not recommended as heat-tolerant variety.

This information was given by the Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar in a written reply in Rajya Sabha. 

ICAR-IIWBR Karnal has initiated a specific research

India

Early maturing varieties of rice to be used for Straw Management

The cultivation of Short Duration Varieties (SDVs) provide extended window between Kharif harvesting of paddy and wheat sowing for Rabi, thereby giving sufficient time to the rice farmers for in-situ management and removal of excess paddy straw. The varietal trait for height is inherent in self-pollinated crop like paddy. The dwarf varieties have less production of straw as compared to the tall varieties.

Indian Council of Agricultural Research(ICAR) and State Agriculture Universities (SAUs) have developed high-yielding short duration Basmati rice varieties including Pusa Basmati 1509 (115 days), Pusa Basmati 1692 (115 days) and Pusa Basmati 1847 (125 days) and non-basmati category, aromatic rice varieties PR 126 (120-125 days), Pusa Sugandh 5 (125 days) and Pusa 1612 (120 days).These early maturing varieties mature about 20-25 days in advance which enable farmers for straw management and preparation of the fields for wheat sowing.

The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is implementing National Food Security Mission (NFSM) to increase the production and productivity of food-grain crops including rice. The various interventions such as cluster demonstrations on direct seeded rice, line transplanting, stress-tolerant varieties etc., distribution of quality seeds of high-yielding varieties including Short Duration Varieties & hybrids, micro-nutrients, soil ameliorants, plant protection chemicals, farm equipments and machinery are implemented to increase rice production and productivity.

This information was given by the Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in a written reply in Rajya Sabha. 

Early maturing varieties of rice to be

Acquaculture, India

This breakthrough opens a new vista and adds a new species for research on various aspects of captive propagation to harness commercial aquaculture potential

The ICAR – Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture, Chennai has initiated the broodstock development and breeding of R sarba in captivity at finfish hatchery in its Muttukkadu Experimental Station. About 45 brood fishes in the size ranged from 350g to 1800g have been maintained in the Recirculation Aquaculture System and small volume cages for two years since December, 2020. One of the bright features of the species is its easy adaptability to formulated feed, from rearing to captive maturation and this indicates its domestication potential.

The Silver or Goldlined seabream fish (Rhabdosargus sarba) belongs to sparidae family and is widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific region. It is considered as one of the widely preferred food fishes in India due to its white tender meat and fetches a premium price ar Rs 400-500 per kg in the domestic market. Being a euryhaline species, R sarba has a better potential for farming both in the ponds and cages.

Mature males in oozing condition and females with developing oocytes observed from the 1st week of November 2022. During 2nd week of December 2022, female fish (917g) had an oocyte diameter of 414 µm and two oozing males (907g & 240g) were administered with HCG and LHRHa hormones as priming and resolving doses at 24 hours intervals. After 12 hours of resolving dose, spontaneous spawning observed on 9th December 2022 and total of 7000 eggs (878 µm) collected. Fertilisation and hatching rates estimated were @ 71 per cent and 40 per cent respectively. The newly hatched larvae were measured with the size of 1.92mm. The Incubation time was estimated as 16 hours at 35 ppt salinity and 25ºC water temperature. The fish is probably a batch spawner, where the same fish released the second batch of eggs @ 8000 nos after 45 hrs (11th December 2022) of first spawning. The larvae were stocked in the larval rearing tanks and rearing is under progress.

This is first report on the captive breeding of Goldlined seabream in India. This breakthrough opens a new vista and adds a new species for research on various aspects of captive propagation with an aim to harness commercial aquaculture potential.

This breakthrough opens a new vista and

Agrotech, India

To facilitate a close cooperation between both the parties and would be a mile stone in the area of production of disease-free quality planting material Citrus in India

ICAR – Central Citrus Research Institute, Nagpur licensed and transferred its technology of ‘Containerised Nursery Propagation Technique to Produce Disease-Free Citrus Planting Material’ to M/s Shivar Nursery, Hatla, Taluka Katol, District Nagpur by signing a MoU. Dilip Ghosh, Director, ICAR-CCRI, Nagpur and Prashant Wankhede, Managing Director, Shivar Nursery signed the MoU on the behalf of their respective organisations. This partnership is aimed to facilitate a close cooperation between both the parties and would be a mile stone in the area of production of disease-free quality planting material Citrus in India.

Ghosh informed that the technology of has been standardised by the Institute and is gaining popularity across Maharashtra and in other States as well. ICAR-CCRI is promoting the nursery production through PPP mode and till date has licensed this technology with nine (9) private nurseries across the country, considering the demand of various commercial citrus cultivars in India.

To facilitate a close cooperation between both

Award, India, Sustainability

Honouring Patra’s 33-year dedicated career in Soil Science Research and Education

Ashok Kumar Patra, former Director of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research-Indian Institute of Soil Science (ICAR-IISS), Bhopal received  the Glinka World Soil Prize 2022 for his 33-year dedicated career in Soil Science Research and Education. The Glinka World Soil Prize is named after Konstantin Glinka, an eminent Russian soil scientist known for his work on the geographical distribution of soils. The prize honours distinguished individuals or organisations that promote sustainable soil management and the protection of soil resources, which have a direct impact on people’s well-being. This year’s seventh Glinka Prize is awarded to Ashok Kumar Patra, described as ‘an outstanding soil scientist and a strong advocate of sustainable soil management in India and worldwide’. Throughout his career spanning thirty-three years of research, education, and extension, he has contributed to over 350 publications and participated in various national and international events. He has made significant contributions to the improvement of food and nutritional security through integrated nutrient management and has addressed the emerging challenges of soil resource, sustainable management and biodiversity while uplifting the research standards of the Institute (ICAR-IISS) to the global level.

Patra comes from a farming family and has dedicated much of his career to improving soil nutrient management in his home country, India.He was instrumental in developing the Mridaparikshak Mini Soil Laboratory, which has provided soil testing and fertiliser recommendations to millions of Indian farmers. His research has been critical in understanding nutrient cycling, the effect of long-term fertiliser applications on India’s major soils thus leading to improved nitrogen management and reduced inputs, with a clear focus on sustainable fertiliser management.

In his capacity as Director of ICAR-IISS, a Member of the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (FAO/GSP), President of Indian Society of Soil Science and Fellow of national academies, he has contributed to the development of numerous documents, guidelines and standard operating procedures at national and international levels. In addition, he has worked to generate public interest in soil science through awareness campaigns, demonstrations and exhibitions of soil technologies, presentations on radio and television programs, and writing blogs and journal articles. Under his leadership, ICAR-IISS received the King Bhumibol World Soil Day award in 2020.

Patra has a distinguished record of leadership, having led numerous projects to advance sustainable soil management. These include the development of rapid composting techniques, GIS-based soil fertility maps, and the use of soil spectroscopy to generate large databases of soil information needed for decision making. During his term as Director of ICAR – IISS, he expanded the network by opening new cooperating centres in various projects, and guided hundreds of students, research scholars, young scientists and large farming community. In all his work and engagements, Patra’s continuously strives to identify and remove barriers and create favourable socio-economic and institutional conditions to promote sustainable soil management.    

The Glinka World Soil Prize, launched in 2016, rewards eligible candidates who contribute to raise awareness and bring possible solutions to confront acute problems of soil degradation. It encourages and recognises field-oriented work directly contributing to preserve soils and increase food security. 

Former winners of the Glinka World Soil Prize include Instituto Geografico Augustin kingCodazzi (IGAC from Colombia) in 2016, Argentine No Till Farmers Association (Aapresid from Argentina) in 2017, Rattan Lal (USA) in 2018, Xu Minggang (China) in 2019, in 2020 Luca Montanarella (JRC/European Commission), and in 2021 Lydie-Stella Koutika (The Republic of the Congo).

Honouring Patra’s 33-year dedicated career in Soil

Agrotech, India

Dilip Ghosh, Director, ICAR-CCRI, urges farmers, stakeholders, beneficiaries to take maximum benefit of all technologies developed by the Institute.

ICAR-Central Citrus Research Institute, Nagpur participated in the 13th Edition of AGROVISION – 2022, Central India’s largest Agri-summit held in Nagpur recently.

Inaugurating the Agri Exhibition, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh stresses the need for innovation and viable technologies in Agriculture to enhance the farmer’s income. The Government and Investors should work hand-in-hand for the prosperity of the farmers, he adds.

Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways and Chief patron of the Mega event, puts emphasis that the farmers should adopt science and technology based solutions to their problems and also take the initiative in the production of bio-fuels and turn themselves from food suppliers to energy providers.

During the special workshop on citrus, Dilip Ghosh, Director, ICAR-CCRI, urged the farmers, stakeholders, beneficiaries to take maximum benefit of all the technologies developed by the Institute.

Citrus technologies, fruit samples and extension publications were exhibited and displayed in ICAR-CCRI stall. The exhibition witnessed a massive gathering of farmers, entrepreneurs, students etc. across the country who appreciated the Institutes exhibits and their displays. The exhibition gave a wider platform for commercialisation of the technologies and services and communicating to the key customers.

Dilip Ghosh, Director, ICAR-CCRI, urges farmers, stakeholders,

Acquaculture, Environment, India

Aqua-farmers of Sundarban will get information on the technologies developed by ICAR-CIBA

Bankim Chandra Hazra, Minister of Sundarban Affairs, Government of West Bengal inaugurated the Kiosk and Fish waste Processing unit at Kakdwip Research Centre of ICAR-Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculturt, Chennai.

The minister appreciated the endeavour taken by CIBA for opening a Kiosk for the people of Sundarban. He also said it is a unique idea to establish the Fish-waste processing unit for converting fish-waste to wealth. Hazra later participated in the tree plantation programme.

Kuldeep K Lal, Director, CIBA briefed about the purpose of the Kiosk. He said aqua-farmers of Sundarban will get information on the technologies developed by ICAR-CIBA and other ICAR institutes for their betterment and local villagers may also get fresh farm produce of KRC with reasonable cost. 

Debasis De, Officer-in-Charge, KRC-CIBA elaborated on the purpose of establishing a Fish-waste processing unit and highlighted that it will not only help to convert the fish-waste to value added products i.e., Plankton Plus and Horti Plus for generating income of farmers of Sundarban but also will help to keep the environment of fish market clean.

Aqua-farmers of Sundarban will get information on

Acquaculture, India

Seed distribution event was held at the Coastal Marine Biodiversity Centre of the Mangrove Foundation, Airoli

The ICAR-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources, Lucknow has established a hatchery facility for marine ornamental fishes at Airoli, Thane, Navi Mumbai in collaboration with the Mangrove foundation, Government of Maharashtra. Ten different species of clownfishes from Indian waters were stocked, broodstock has been developed and captive propagation achieved for seven species, adopting indigenous Recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS).

The production of three species, Amphiprion percula, A. ocellaris and A. frenatus were up scaled and continuous supply of juveniles / seeds to the beneficiaries for further rearing and marketing was undertaken. 320 people from five coastal districts of Maharashtra underwent training on various aspects of ‘Clownfish Aquaculture’, 93 beneficiaries from 12 coastal villages of two districts (Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri) were adopted the technology and 13 cluster mode clownfish rearing units are under operational and getting consistent income.

A seed distribution event was arranged at the Coastal Marine Biodiversity Centre of the Mangrove Foundation, Airoli.

Dr Uttam Kumar Sarkar, Director, ICAR – NBFGR handed over 500 nos. of 1.5cm size A. percula and A. ocellaris to the beneficiaries of Sindhudurg district for further rearing.

Dr Sarkar exhorted that the Institute will continue the support and more rearing units will be established in the coastal districts of Maharashtra with the collaboration of Mangrove foundation.

Seed distribution event was held at

India

To focus on insect taxonomy, semiochemicals, pollinators and biological control

ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources, Bengaluru has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya , Palampur for promoting students’ collaborative research in the areas of insect taxonomy, semiochemicals, pollinators and biological control.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Dr TR Sharma, Deputy Director General (Crop Sciences), Dr Harinder Kumar Chaudhary, Vice Chancellor, CSKHPKV, Palampur and Dr SN Sushil, Director, ICAR-NBAIR.

Dr T R Sharma, lauded the huge insect collections housed at the National Insect Museum at ICAR-NBAIR, Bengaluru. He also emphasised on the need for the culturing of bumble bees and the potential scope for utilising them in polyhouse pollination.

Dr Harinder Kumar Chaudhary emphasised upon the sharing of the expertise and facilities for research of PG students for effective utilisation of resources. He also stressed on collaboration with the Bureau to address the emerging /new insects pests in the hill grown crops in Himachal Pradesh.

Dr SN Sushil, briefed the Bureau’s taxonomic expertise across different insect orders, conservation of Apis/non-Apis bees, biological control of invasive insects, semiochemical based insect management strategy, slow-release nano pheromone formulations and molecular characterisation and DNA barcoding of insects and insect whole genome sequencing.

A Brain Storming session for future collaboration with ICAR Institutes was also organised. 

To focus on insect taxonomy, semiochemicals, pollinators

Acquaculture, Company News, Environment, India, Sustainability

Several fish vaccine candidates are currently being evaluated by IIL for commercialisation

Indian Immunologicals Limited, a leading vaccine manufacturer, has announced partnership with Central Institute of Fisheries Education (CIFE), Mumbai and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Institute for the commercial development of vaccine against common bacterial diseases in freshwater fishes. IIL has forayed into Aqua business in October 2022 by launching products for aquaculture health market dealing with pond management and fish or shrimp gut management.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr K Anand Kumar, Managing Director, Indian Immunologicals Limited said, “IIL has introduced several innovative veterinary vaccines first to the world, like Porcine Cysticercosis vaccine, FMD+HS+BQ combination vaccine and Theileria vaccine. IIL is again the first in India to get to fish vaccines. We are committed to introducing more and more products for the aquaculture market and help shrimp and fish growers to increase their productivity and protect fish schools from various diseases”.

IIL strive to explore solutions for the prevailing challenges faced by Indian fish farmers in their farm production system. CIFE will provide technology for two inactivated bacterial vaccines, one for Columnaris Disease, a serious condition affecting numerous freshwater fish species, and other for Edwardsiellosis that cause high degree of mortality, leading to severe economic losses. Both the diseases are extremely common in freshwater fishes and is generally considered to be ubiquitous.

Dr Priyabrata Pattnaik, Deputy Managing Director, Indian Immunologicals Limited added “IIL is planning to introduce vaccines and immunostimulants with tech transfer from various fisheries institutes under ICAR. Several fish vaccine candidates are currently being evaluated by IIL for commercialisation. Launch of such vaccines may have a positive impact on reducing indiscriminate use of chemical or antibiotic based treatment methods, helping reduce antimicrobial resistance by fish farmers practicing environmentally sustainable ways of pond and fish health management”.

Dr CN Ravishankar, Director and Vice Chancellor of ICAR-CIFE said “In support to India’s Blue Revolution, I am glad that CIFE and IIL have come together to partner in developing India’s fist bacterial fish vaccine”.

Several fish vaccine candidates are currently being

India

To encompass all aspects of training, setting up of seed production/nursery facilities and devising appropriate location-specific farming methods

The ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Chennai signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Andhra Pradesh as a knowledge partner for providing technical services in marine fisheries and mariculture.

As part of the agreement, the Institute would provide technical backstopping on various aspects of seaweed farming to identified fisherfolk and entrepreneurs as an alternate enterprise. The technical assistance would encompass all aspects of training, setting up of seed production/nursery facilities and devising appropriate location-specific farming methods.

The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy graced the occasion.

To encompass all aspects of training, setting

Acquaculture, India

By this farming technology, the feed cost is reduced without compromising production and productivity

ICAR-Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture, Chennai recently conducted a front-line demonstration of novel aquamimicry based shrimp Penaeus vannamei farming model under the scheduled caste sub plan (SCSP) program.

A harvest mela was also organised to exhibit the relative advantage and production potential of the new system in a farm at Pattippulam village near Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

This innovative system strives to simulate the natural estuarine condition in the pond by creating zooplankton biomass primarily copepods. By this farming technology, the feed cost is reduced without compromising production and productivity.

Dr Kuldeep Kumar Lal, Director, ICAR-CIBA stressed the importance of innovative shrimp farming technology in the context of current declining trend in market price of farmed shrimp. Further, he emphasised that aquamimicry based shrimp farming not only reduces the feed cost but also reduces the duration of culture without compromising the production.

By this farming technology, the feed cost

Acquaculture, India

To focus on gender issues in aquaculture and fisheries sector pertaining to rights of equality of women

The 8th Global Conference on ‘Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries (GAF8)’, jointly organised by ICAR – Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Kochi; Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries Section of the Asian Fisheries Society and the Society of Fisheries Technologists (India) (SOFTI) was officially inaugurated by the Governor of Kerala Arif Mohammed Khan.

In his inaugural address, he emphasised that the GAF8 will be discussing the intertwined gender issues in aquaculture and fisheries sector pertaining to the rights of equality of the unsung majority of women as compared to their male counterparts. Lamenting on the poor socio-economic status of the fisher women with respect to gender inequality and inequity, he said that in spite of the large-scale contributions of women in the several areas in the fishing industry, their services for the sectoral development have not been duly acknowledged. So, he urged the delegates to find out potential solutions to resolve these issues through fruitful deliberations on this global platform.  

The conference which is being held at Kochi, is the eighth in the global series, themed on ‘Shaping the Future: Gender Justice for Sustainable Aquaculture & Fisheries’ through various sub-themes pertaining to gender issues and related policies in the fisheries sector. The conference aims to bring forward gender issues in the aquaculture and fisheries sector on a common global platform for gaining new insights and establishing networks of stakeholders associated with fisheries and discuss potential solutions through the gendered lens.

The conference has brought together over 300 scientists, academicians, gender experts, policymakers and students from India and abroad. Delegates from 20 countries will present papers in GAF8. Besides six focal themes, there are 10 Special Sessions have been arranged by international and national organisations, including the FAO, Pacific Community, BOBP, ICSF etc. In addition, two special events are being hosted along with GAF8. 

To focus on gender issues in aquaculture