Aqua farmers celebrated World Fisheries Day with Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) and Fisheries Department officials at the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Aquaculture (RGCA) on Saturday.
RGCA, a research and development (R&D) wing of MPEDA, has taken up Tilapia fish cultivation and research project at Manikonda.
Farmers from different villages interacted with the officials on the occasion. RGCA Tilapia project in charge B. Appala Naidu gave a presentation of their research activities.
MPEDA Vijayawada office Deputy Director Sivarajan, Deputy Director (Fisheries) Solomon Sudhakar and RGCA assistant project manager at Sirkali in Tamil Nadu N. Babu Rao cut a cake along with the farmers.
Mr. Sivarajan said that Andhra Pradesh was in the first place in producing seafood and the credit went to the aqua farmers, traders and other stakeholders in the State.
The government was ready to extend support to aquaculture farmers in taking up the culture in a scientific method, he said.
RGCA technical staff Mathew, P. Srinivas, Gnanavelu, Senthil and Guna Shekar gave a presentation to the farmers at the ponds.
