Exposure visit of students to ornamental fish farm at Thrissur, Kerala

    An exposure visit was arranged for students belonged to scheduled caste category to ornamental fish farm owned by Shri Sandeep at Eriyad, Thrissur coastal district of Kerala on 22 February 2025. Three last year BSc. Aquaculture students along with Dr Bindhi S Kumar (Assistant Professor) from St. Albertz College were present during the visit. The fish farm mainly operates the breeding and culture of freshwater ornamental fishes such as different varieties of guppy, angel, fighterfish, swordtail, platy, zebra fish, and shrimps. The farm also holds live feed preparation units for the ornamental fish rearing such as infusoria, and artemia. Dr Sreekanth GB, Senior Scientist (FRM), ICAR-CCARI emphasized the importance of ornamental fish culture in the fisheries sector. He also highlighted that the breeding of indigenous fish species should be given more focus to conserve the native fish germplasm. Shri Sandeep explained the activities of the farm and provided hands-on training to the students on broodstock selection, pairing, larval rearing, feed preparation and water quality management. Dr Bindhi S Kumar highlighted that the homestead small-scale ornamental fish rearing unit needs to be promoted to meet the demand for the ornamental fisheries sector. The students expressed their gratitude towards the institute and farmer for providing the guidance and assured that they will take this opportunity to start small-scale homestead units for ornamental fish culture. Fish seeds, feed, aquatic plants and low-cost silpaulin fish tanks were also distributed to the students during the programme.