Thanjavur Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture

Thanjavur Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture
(Thanjavur CeSA - HQ)

The Thanjavur Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture (Formerly Fisheries Training and Research Centre) came into existence during 2001 by amalgamating the two schemes viz., “Operational Research Project in Fish culture” and “Polyculture of Fin and Shellfishes” functioning earlier in VUTRC (TANUVAS) Thanjavur. This centre mainly caters to the needs of freshwater aquaculture farmers in the Cauvery delta region. The Centre is located on the Pattukkottai Road in Soorakottai village in a land extent of one hectare fully fenced.

This is the only fisheries training centre available in the region to provide on- campus and off-campus training regularly for the benefit of the farmers, entrepreneurs, women SHG members, fisherwomen and rural unemployed youth. The training subjects include freshwater fish farming, carp seed production, ornamental fish farming, preparation of value-added fishery products, etc. Besides the extension of technology, presently the centre has metamorphosed into a production centre with fish production and marketing through retail sale outlet (Kayalaham) in the Centre.

Mandates of the Centre:

To develop and maintain facilities for the research in inland aquaculture of commercially important fishes.
To develop innovative aquaculture technologies for the inland farming sector.
To develop advanced farming technologies for adoption by the farmers through demonstration and training.
To offer technical assistance to the farmers and entrepreneurs to solve their field level problems.
To conduct extension programmes like training, consultancy, project formulation to fish farmers, unemployed youth and entrepreneurs in the area of Inland Aquaculture.
To provide a platform for the students’ and staff research and implementation of academic, research or extension programmes of Govt. and non- governmental agencies.

Research

Students research done and underway at the centers

SI.No	Name of the Student and Year	M.F.Sc/Ph.D.	Title of the Work Done	Thesis Submitted on
1	ALISH DEBBARMA (2017-18)	M.F.Sc	Evaluation of stocking parameters influencing the growth of Genetically Improved Farm Tilapia (GIFT) under intensive cage farming	17.07.2019 Degree awarded
2	HARSHITA SAHU (2018-2019)	M.F.Sc	Effect of stocking parameters on growth survival and production of Pangassius hypophthalmus in intensive cage culture system	Ongoing
3	PAWAN KUMAR SHARMA (2017-2018)	Ph.D.	Developing a sustainable production model for farm pond aquaculture in selected delta districts of Tamil Nadu	Ongoing

The following University research project is underway in the Centre:

1. Investigation on the nutritional requirements of Spiny Loach, Lepidocephalus thermalis

Schemes in Operation:

Sl No	Schemes	Funded by	Budget	Period
1	TN IAMP Projects	World Bank Funded	₹ 250 lakhs	2017– 23
2	Establishment of Aqua One Centre at Thanjavur CeSA	NFDB Funded	₹ 20 lakhs	2019-20
3	Establishment of Aquaculture Service Centre in Cauvery Delta Region – TCeSA	NADP Funded	₹ 130 lakhs	2019-20
4	Upgrading Sustainable Aquaculture Production Centres of TNJFU for operation through Private –Public Partnership for Integrated Agriculture Development	NADP Funded	₹ 378 lakhs	2019-20

Outreach / Extension Activities

TCeSA, Thanjavur has trained more than 7093 farmers through 252 trainings. The training programmes were on Freshwater fish culture, Fish culture in community tanks, Ornamental fish culture, Fish culture in farm ponds, Cage culture in Freshwater Tanks and Value added fish products preparation. Training on Carp culture in community ponds, Farm pond Tilapia culture and Cage culture in Freshwater Tanks are offered on demand or in a routine manner.

Infrastructure

TCeSA comprises of an area of 1 ha. in which a Training Hall, Aquaculture Quality Testing Laboratory, Library, Inland Cage Culture Demonstration Facility, Kayalaham (TNJFU Retail Outlet) and Innovative Ornamental Fish Unit are established.

Highlights of the Centre:

Sl.No.	Extension Activity	From 01.04.2001 – 30.6.2020
1	No. of trainings conducted a. On - Campus b. Off – Campus	156 96
2	No. of farmers trained a. On - Campus b. Off – Campus	3805 3288
3	Awareness programmes conducted	31
4	Guest lectures delivered	264
5	Success stories	70
6	Exhibitions	3
7	Farmers queries answered	16827

Current Focus

Providing technical training to inland fish farmers on need basis
Offering advisory services for the establishment of carp farms, their management and marketing
Providing technical support to farmers through water quality analysis
Providing appropriate details regarding availability of farm inputs like seed, feed and health management to the farmers
Providing technical assistance for establishment of cage culture

Faculty in the Centre

Sl.No.	Name	Designation	E mail	Mobile
1	Dr.V.Senthilkumar	Assistant Professor & Head i/c	senthilkumar@tnfu.ac.in	94444 64404
2	Mrs.P.Ruby	Farm manager	rubyfcri@gmail.com	97905 97602
3	Mr.M.Manikandan	Fishery Assistant	--	97869 09607

For further details, contact:

Dr.V.Senthilkumar,

Assistant Professor and Head i/c

senthilkumar@tnfu.ac.in

TCeSA, Thanjavur has trained more than 6,420 farmers through
236 trainings

Location:

The centre is located in Thanjavur to Pattukottai main road at Soorakottai. The land mark is junction point (Pirivusalai) of the roads from Thanjavur to Mannargudi and Pattukottai

Contact Details:

The Assistant Professor and Head i/c

Thanjavur Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture, Pattukottai Main Road, Soorakottai,
Thanjavur – 614 904.

04362 -291625

tcesa@tnfu.ac.in