Bhubaneswar, Nov 24:

The Odisha government has decided to set up a fisheries university to harness the fishing opportunities in the state, an official said on Thursday.

fish farming

Fisheries and Animal Resource Development Secretary Bishnupada Sethi said the proposed university would create a technical and scientific network connecting individual farmers, organisations and institutes.

"It would cater to the basic requirements for delivering professional courses, creating technical manpower and training the farmers through direct exposure and designing the best practices," said Sethi.

A high-level meeting was held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi on Thursday to discuss the setting up of the proposed university.

Development Commissioner R. Balakrishnan advised that the university be conceptualised as a thematic and outcome oriented institution from the beginning instead of planning it as a generic and theoretical university.

He added that it should be developed as a state-of-the-art university focusing on direct links with farmers and field applications.

Presently, Odisha contributes about five per cent of the fish production in the country and about 17 per cent of the value of Indian maritime products export, said a release.

Odisha has a 480 km coastline along with 24,000 sq km of area within the continental shelf. Fresh water resources are estimated to be around 6.79 lakh hectare comprising of 1.28 lakh hectare of ponds, 2 lakh hectare of reservoirs, 1.80 lakh hectare of lakes and swamps and 1.71 lakh hectare of rivers and canals. Brackish water resources are around 4.18 lakh hectare, the release added. (IANS)