Mandapam Regional Centre of ICAR-CMFRI empowers seaweed farmers
The North East monsoon arrives in Tamil Nadu, the Mandapam Regional Centre of the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) is taking proactive measures to safeguard seaweed farms. Under the Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan (SCSP) and National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA-SCSP) programme, the Centre has distributed salinometers and pH meters to beneficiaries at 14 seaweed farming sites.
Dr. K. Vinod, Principal Scientist & Head, led the distribution ceremony. Dr. Johnson, B., Senior Scientist, provided hands-on training on the usage of these instruments. Farmers are now equipped to monitor salinity and pH levels weekly, enabling them to make informed decisions and protect their crops from potential damage caused by freshwater influx and salinity reduction.
Mandapam Regional Centre of the ICAR-CMFRI has been promoting seaweed farming through SCSP/NICRA-SCSP since 2019. A total of 146 fishers in SCSP & 31 fishers in NICRA-SCSP are being benefitted through the programme. The beneficiaries of Puthukudi village, Thondi, Ramanathapuram district, who initiated seaweed farming during 2019-2020 has successfully adopted and has been continuously practising the farming with their own investment. It has now emerged as a seaweed seed village, which supplied 50 tonnes of fresh seaweeds for farming to adjacent districts namely Pudukkottai & Thanjavur districts in the last four months.
