Refine technology to improve forecasting system: Trilochan Mohapatra

KOCHI: Urging the scientific community to reach out to fishermen and farmers, a top official in the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has stressed the need to focus on refining technologies to improve the forecasting system to help them. Dr Trilochan Mohapatra, Secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education and Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) said: “Technology is moving very fast. Scientists should ensure the existing forecasting system in fisheries and agriculture sectors is accurate and authentic”.

He was inaugurating the second international symposium of the Societal Applications in Fisheries and Aquaculture using Remote Sensing Imagery (SAFARI) organised by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) here on Monday. “Remote sensing techniques could effectively be used to develop proper technologies to maintain accuracy in a slew of activities such as weather warning, real-time advisories on nature of the sea and forecasting various ocean phenomena,” he said.

“Scientists should be ready to improve the algorithms and models being used for the forecasting purposes in frequent intervals. Besides developing proper technologies, they have to update them constantly,” Dr Mohapatra said. Referring to the significance of the remote sensing techniques in the fisheries, the ICAR Chief said ecological sustainability could be achieved by tapping the fortunes of the satellite remote sensing technology.

“We are in a process of increasing the fish production, both capture and culture, to usher in the Blue Revolution utilising our vast resources. At the same time, we should be prepared to maintain the sustainability in the sector, and so responsible fishing should be encouraged. For this, the satellite remote sensing techniques will be great advantage to understand the ecosystem in deeper level that will help implement proper guidelines for ensuring sustainability in fisheries”, he said.

The three-day symposium titled ‘Remote Sensing for Ecosystem Analysis and Fisheries’ is part of CMFRI’s move to tap the fortunes of India’s satellite technology in favour of the marine fisheries sector. The meet will come up with a road map for utilising satellite data for scores of objectives in the marine sector of the country.