Message From Director

The Andaman & Nicobar group of Islands in Bay of Bengal and Lakshadweep Islands in Arabian Sea is well known for its unique biodiversity and unexplored flora and fauna which have created interest at National and International level. The Islands have about 50000 ha under all the agricultural crops with major area of over 20000 ha under coconut. The territory has a major coast line highlighting the importance of fisheries and typical coastal climate. The diverse flora and fauna having horticultural importance, unique breeds of domestic animals sustaining the livelihood of tribal population, diverse settler communities & tribal population with typical food habits, posing challenges to sustain the fragile production systems makes this as topic of interest among the researchers. The horticulturally based integrated farming system of the Islands has enormous potential for providing livelihood options and can play a significant role in supporting agro-tourism based economy.

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Small-scale aquaponic model for fish and plant production

    Aquaculture diversification practices are the need of the hour towards the path of sustainability and resilience in the archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar. Commercial freshwater fish farming remains a niche area for development with a scope for better market and local demand. However, the sector is mostly relying on pond-based farming which in turn is already facing range of issues such as seed unavailability, improper feeding practices, water scarcity at times, etc. In this background a small-scale recirculatory aquaponic unit was developed and the unit basically functions as a zero-water exchange model which can be used a backyard farming model as well as for recreational purposes for culture of ornamental fishes in indoor conditions. The model basically employs the culture of candidate ornamental fishes such as silver barb, gold fishes and koi carps along with plants such as Broad dhaniya. The nutrient rich water from the rectangular FRP fish tanks is pumped and used as a natural fertilizer for plants and in turn the plants raised in gravels helps in filtering and purifying the water and recirculates the water back to the fish culture unit. The culture model can generate better income with the culture of candidate ornamental fishes such as Gold fish and Koi carps which has lucrative market demand in the Islands and are also highly preferred by aquarium hobbyist. The plants and fishes can be harvested seasonally and can be utilized for domestic purposes as well as sale in local market.

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