CHANDIGARH: CII in association with Ministry of Agriculture and Famers’ Welfare, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying and Ministry of Food Processing Industries has organized a Virtual International Food and Agri Week 2020. As a part of this mega event, a Conference on Sustainable, Technology led and Responsible development of Fisheries Sector-The Next Level of Growth with YES BANK as the knowledge partner was organized.
The conference witnessed participation from policy makers, industry stalwarts, think tanks, researchers and the academia who deliberated on the potential of the Indian fisheries sector, current challenges, opportunity to boost our seafood exports and the role of technology and innovation for safe and sustainable fisheries management.A knowledge report titled “Indian Fisheries Sector: Achieving the Next Level of Growth” co-authored by CII and YES BANK was released during the Conference.
The panel discussions during the conference deliberated upon three critical aspects of the sector- Leveraging Government Support in Fisheries Sector with a special focus on the Pradhan Mantri Matsya SAMPADA Yojana; Doubling Indian Fisheries Export and Domestic Industry by 2025 and Technology Innovations for safe and sustainable fisheries management.
Speaking at the occasion, the chief guest Dr Rajeev Ranjan, Secretary – Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Government of India in his inaugural address emphasized on the potential of the fisheries sector and how the recently launched Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana aims at supporting the entire value chain of this sunrise sector. He also emphasized on the need for convergence of efforts by all stakeholders to provide the much required boost to the fisheries sector.
Mr Ramakanth V Akula, Conference Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, The Water base Ltd while setting the context put forth the critical role the sector plays in generating employment for more than 14.5 Mn people and twice the number down the value chain and as a key forex earner for the country. He also highlighted the requirement for setting up back end infrastructure, providing seed and feed, develop adequate cold chain infrastructure, reducing post catch losses and working towards building efficiency to build competitiveness in the global market.
Mr Sreeram Raavi, Conference Co-Chairman & Founder, Eruvaka Technologies empahsized on the need for technology interventions in the fisheries sector to bring about the much required traceability and better price discovery for the fishermen
Mr. Parthsarathi Trivedi CEO & Co-Founder Skylo technologies Inc. said that data and connectivity shall play a critical role in transforming the fisheries sector specially on three fronts: Safety, Productivity and Sustainability.
Mr Tarun Shridhar, Former Secretary-Dairy & Fisheries, Government of India stressed on the need for data management which shall subsequently lead to better policy making. He also emphasized on increasing the domestic consumption along with enhanced production, productivity and exports.
Mr Nitin Puri, Group President and Global Head, Food and Agri Strategic Advisory and Research Group, YES BANK said that there is tremendous opportunity to diversify our commercial species, enhance value addition, and streamline domestic value chains to double our size in the global and domestic markets. Government support, industry enterprise and startup innovations are driving demand and supply side innovations and investments, which shall eventually help us achieve the targeted growth number in the next 5-6 years.