39TH INSTITUTE RESEARCH COUNCIL (IRC) MEETING OF ICAR-CIBA

The 39th Institute Research Council (IRC) meeting of ICAR-CIBA was conducted at its headquarters, Chennai during 25th-26th July 2022. The meeting was chaired by Dr. K.P. Jithendran, Director, CIBA & Chairman, IRC. All the Scientists and Technical Officers who are the members of IRC participated the meeting. The meeting began with welcome address by Dr. K.P. Kumaraguru vasagam, Member Secretary, IRC & OIC PME.  This was followed by the opening remarks by the Chairman, IRC, who also made a general presentation on the R&D profile and research focus of CIBA concerning the Indian brackishwater aquaculture sector. The chairman expressed that this is being his first IRC meeting after assuming the charge of Director in May 31st, 2021. In his address, he stressed that the research programmes should be in tune with with the needs of the sector. He also explained the constraints and challenges in getting adequate funding and the challenges in obtaining sufficient resources for research. This was followed by presentations from individual scientists of the five divisions viz., fish culture division (FCD), crustacean culture division (CCD), aquatic animal health and environment division (AAHED), nutrition, genetics and biotechnology division (NGBD), and social science division (SSD) covering 11 inhouse projects and 23 externally funded projects. Finally, presentations from different functional units of CIBA were also made to underline the significance of them in the institute’s smooth operation. There were active discussions on each of the aspects after the respective presentations by individuals, and suggestions were provided in modifying the activities wherever necessary. In his concluding remarks, the Director, mentioned the scope for further strengthening the research and farming infrastructure in headquarters and its research centers regarding the recently sanctioned flagship program on genetic improvement of Indian white shrimp. He also stressed the need for improvement in the reporting system and publication of relevant scientific information as a popular articles to communicate the research findings to the farmers quickly. The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks from Shri. Sathish kumar, Member, PME, CIBA.