Diseases are a serious constraint for the growth of aquaculture, and huge economic losses are reported by farmers due to aquatic animal diseases. Early detection is considered to be key to the control of diseases, and can only be achieved through a structured surveillance programme.
To further strengthen the farmer based reporting a “Report Fish Disease” App has been developed . The App has been launched recently. Using the innovative app, the farmers can report disease cases in finfish, shrimps and molluscs on their farms to the field level-officers and fish health experts and get scientific advice for quickly addressing the disease problem on their farms. The app will be a central platform for connecting fish farmers, field-level officers and fish health experts.
It is envisaged that the “Report Fish Disease” will reach all fish farming communities located in the most remote place of country, so that each disease case in aquatic animals are reported, investigated and timely scientific advice are provided, so that the disease problem faced by the farmers which used to go unnoticed or not reported earlier will reach to the experts and the problem will be addressed within a minimum period of time.
Hence, the economic loss which was happening due to disease outbreaks will be reduced to a greater extent, thereby help in increasing fish farmers’ income.
The Department of Fisheries has also launched the Fisheries Startup Grand Challenge in partnership with Startup India hub and DPIIT, to identify, reward and recognize startups creating exceptional impact in the fisheries ecosystem. The Fisheries ecosystem in India has been growing across the years, currently having fisheries startups present in 21 states and union territories.
The Fisheries Startup Grand Challenge sought applications across four problem statements. The challenge received applications from 121 startups across the problem statements. After a rigorous analysis, 12 startups have been selected as winners of the challenge.
– PIB
