By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 24 Dec: Dr M Muruganandam, Principal Scientist and OIC (PME Cell), Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation (ICAR-IISWC), Dehradun, addressed senior and mid-career civil service officers of the Maldives in Mussoorie, today. Around 28 Officer Trainees are currently participating in a Capacity Building Programme in Field Administration for the Civil Servants of the Maldives from 20 to 31 December at the National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), Mussoorie.
Dr Muruganandam shared agro-based models, especially those that would be more suitable for Maldivian resources, climate, and potentials. The Maldives is known to have good tuna fisheries and strategic oceanic fishing better than many adjacent countries and has huge potential for diversification of agriculture production and adoption of modern farming systems and technologies.
Drawing attention to the significance of the Maldivian resource base, Dr Murugannadam explained various fish farming technologies including the potential of advanced technologies, biofloc fish farming technology, hydroponics, Recirculatory Aquaculture Systems (RAS), fish raceways, potentials of fishing-based avenues, integrated fish and poultry farming. Highlighting the mandate and contributions of the ICAR-IISWC on resource conservation, soil-water conservation, conservative farming, and integrated farming systems, the participants were introduced to the components and concepts of ecosystems, and environment and strategies for their management in order to protect the environment while proposing and progressing in the economic exploitation of resources towards social advancement, livelihoods, food production, and consumption.
The participants showed keen interest in the technologies and range of information and knowledge shared. Most participants proposed to have joint ventures for the development of fisheries, fish farming including marine aquaculture and dual-purpose rural poultry farming units in strategic locations of various islands of Maldives.
The programme is being coordinated by Dr BS Bisht, Associate Professor, and his team at the NCGG and is one of a series of such customised training programs for the civil servants of several countries such as Bangladesh, Myanmar, Maldives, and African countries as part of the bilateral ties, organised by the NCGG.
