All posts by wellnmed@gmail.com

CMFRI opens doors to marine wonders for public

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives & Environment, Records, All, Science & Technology, Travel

Institute celebrating its 72nd Foundation Day; exhibition from tomorrow

The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) will throw open its doors to the public on Tuesday as part of its 72nd Foundation Day celebrations. The public can view splendours of the marine world like precious pearls in the deep sea and the process of extracting them from farmed pearl oysters.

The exhibition will be a display of diverse marine aquatic species as well as a platform to understand the latest developments in marine research. The National Marine Biodiversity Museum at the CMFRI is rich with collections from a wide spectrum of niches ranging from estuaries to coastal and deeper waters of the Indian seas, various laboratories, newly-designed marine research aquarium, hatcheries and other facilities. The exhibition will be open between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., said a press release here.

Whale shark, the largest fish, horse shoe crab, sea snakes, sea birds, pearl oyster, sea cow, dolphins, and sharks can be viewed. Antarctic krills, a favourite food of penguins and blue whales, is also available at the museum. The marine research aquarium showcases different marine ornamental varieties including bat fish and lion fish.

Those curious about the latest research developments in marine fisheries may visit various laboratories dedicated to bioprospecting, ocean acidification, fishery biology, environmental research, climate change and cell culture. The fish ageing laboratory will help uncover the secrets behind estimation of fish age which is a revolutionary step in marine fisheries research. Visitors can also acquire knowledge in the area of developing medicines from marine organisms for various diseases.


Among the research facilities of the CMFRI, the scanning electron microscope that produces images of a sample in higher resolution that is 10-lakh fold is expected to draw the attention of visitors.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / Kochi – February 04th, 2019

Kole Fish Count records 82 species

Agriculture, Green Initiatives & Environment, Nature, Records, All

Participatory assessment: Scientists, students and nature enthusiasts participated in the survey that covered the Kole land habitats in Thrissur and Malappuram districts on Saturday.  

Survey, coinciding with Wetland Day, reveals six alien species

The Kole Fish Count, conducted on February 2 in connection with World Wetland Day across the Kole wetlands of central Kerala, recorded 82 aquatic species. These include 71 fish species (18 species of brackish water fish and 53 species of freshwater fish), five shrimp species, four crab and two mollusc species.

The participatory assessment, in which scientists, students and nature enthusiasts from the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, the Kerala Agricultural University’s College of Forestry and the Kole Birders Collective participated, covered the entire expanse of Kole habitats distributed across Thrissur and Malappuram districts. Among the major Kole regions, Ponnani had a higher diversity than Thrissur.

Maranchery in Ponnani Kole had the highest diversity (45 species) followed by Uppungal (also in Ponnani Kole) and Enamavu (Thrissur Kole) with 34 species each.

With just 18 species, Adat (Thrissur Kole) recorded the lowest diversity.

Some of the most common species encountered during the survey include the orange chromide (known as pallathi in Malayalam), the dwarf pufferfish, Malabar leaf fish, and pearl spot or karimeen.

Future threats

However, the teams also came across six non-native fish species, raising concerns on the sustainability of the fishery and aquaculture practices being followed in the Kole and vicinity.

The presence of six species of non-native fish in the Kole is of significant concern as these have the potential to compete with, and outnumber native species, said Rajeev Raghavan, assistant professor at KUFOS and the South Asia Coordinator of the IUCN’s Freshwater Fish Specialist Group.

“Particularly alarming is the frequent catches of the Amazonian sucker catfish from various parts of the Kole,” he added.

The government needs to take immediate action to prevent illegal fishing practices carried out during the annual harvest of auctioned waterbodies that are part of the Kole wetlands, noted M. K. Sajeevan, Head, Department of Fisheries Resource Management, KUFOS.

In addition to aquatic biodiversity, the teams also collected samples to assess the health of the ecosystem through evaluation of key water quality parameters, results of which will be released soon.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Staff Reporter / Kochi – February 03rd, 2019

Mannuthy ARS best research centre

Agriculture, Education, Records, All

Kerala agricultural varsity celebrates 48th Foundation Day

The Agricultural Research Station (ARS), Mannuthy, and the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Malappuram, have been bestowed with the best research centre and best extension centre awards in the 48th Foundation Day celebrations of Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) held at Vellanikkara recently.

While Haseena Bhaskar of College of Horticulture (CoH) was adjudged the best teacher, Miniraj of CoH and Sunil V.G. of Malappuram KVK were selected for the best researcher and the best extension scientist awards respectively. CoH, Vellanikkara, secured the best college award.

District Collector T.V. Anupama inaugurated the Foundation Day celebrations. The Collector called upon budding researchers to uphold the rich traditions of the university and be committed to the primary sector, which caters to the most fundamental need of living beings.

“As the Food Safety Commissioner and Alappuzha District Collector, I had occasions to acquaint myself with the vast potential and diverse activities of the KAU. Conversion of fertile land for non-agricultural purposes is a big challenge. The change in eating habits calls for change in cropping pattern and hence provides a new research opportunity. I am sure that the KAU, with its dynamic and diverse research network, will be able to address these challenges,” she said.

Rate of adoption high

KAU Vice Chancellor R. Chandra Babu, in his presidential address, pointed out that agricultural technologies had a much higher rate of adoption than other technologies. Roles played by agricultural universities were much different and much more diverse than conventional universities. The enhanced support for the KAU in the State Budget was gratefully acknowledged, he said.

Honoured

State Horticulture Mission director Justin Mohan; KAU executive committee members A. Anil Kumar; K. Aravindakshan, and T. Pradeep Kumar; and Registrar P.S. Geetha Kutty spoke.

Staff and labourers with thirty years’ unblemished service were also honoured at the function, which was followed by cultural programmes.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Kerala / by Special Correspondent / Thrissur – February 03rd, 2019

Theatre artiste Thuppettan passes away

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Records, All

Eminent theatre person and artist Thuppettan (M. Subrahmanian Namboodiri) died at a hospital here on Friday. He was 90. He was ailing for sometime.

He had directed and wrote scripts for many plays. He won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for best play in 2003 for ‘Vannanthye Kanam’. Thanathu Lavanam and Mohana Sundara Palam are his other prominent works.

Born in Panjal in 1929, he had worked as an art teacher in many schools.

Minister for Culture A.K. Balan condoled the death of Thuppettan.

“He captured the attention of common man through rural plays and communicated serious issues from globalisation to corruption in his own simple style,” the Minister said

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Special Correspondent / Thrissur – February 01st, 2019