Bhubaneswar: The ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture in association with Association of Aquaculturists organized 3rd International Symposium on Genomics in Aquaculture during 21-23 January 2020 at its Kausalyaganga campus. The Institute had earlier organized ISGA-I and ISGA-II in the year 2013 and 2016 respectively. The symposium has four themes namely (1) Genetics, Breed improvement and Molecular breeding; (2) Genome editing, Biosecurity and Biosafety; (3) Genome informatics and Intellectual Property Rights and (4) Genomics in Fish Health, Reproduction and Nutrition.
The programme was inaugurated by Prof (Dr.) Soumendra Mohan Pattnaik, Vice-Chancellor, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar. Prof Pattnaik expressed his happiness to be among the eminent scientists from all over the country and abroad. To meet the national food security, researches in frontier areas like genomics, robotics and bioinformatics hold immense potential. He called for more collaborative works among the researchers to produce useful products/technologies for the benefit of stakeholders in aquaculture. In addition to the theme of the symposium he added that integrated farming should be adopted in the right way for sustainable environment and more research should be done for the less privileged people of the society. Dr. Victor Martinez, Director, FAVET-INBIOGEN, Chile was the guest of honor. He thanked the institute and the organizing committee for his long association with ICAR-CIFA. Genomic research in aquaculture is lagging behind as compared to other fields of agriculture and food production. Speaking about his experience in Salmon he said that, the genomic database for the species could only be completed very recently though it started way back in 2005. Research in genomic science requires huge investment, however, it pays. He said as we are already reaping its advantages in agriculture and animal husbandry.
At the beginning Dr. B. R. Pillai, Director, ICAR-CIFA highlighted the genetics research being done in the institute in relation to better growth and aquaculture production enhancement. She also stated that for these cutting edge technologies the institute is having collaborative research with other ICAR institutes and DBT, DST and many other national and international institutions. She expressed heartfelt gratitude towards ICAR and all collaborators for supporting the symposium. Dr. K. D. Mohapatra Organising Secretary of the symposium welcomed the gathering and briefed about the genesis and thematic areas of the symposium. Over 200 researchers from different parts of India and abroad are taking part in this symposium, informed Dr Mohapatra. The ISGA III brings together lead researchers and experts from animal, plant and fish genomics and provides a platform for exchange of knowledge and ideas. One of the outputs would be formulation of collaborative programs for research, academic exchange and capacity building. During the Symposium an Exhibition is being held in which research institutes and trading companies related to agriculture and fisheries had taken parts. A souvenir, book of abstract were released on the occasion.
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