AP Govt plans to tap marine resources

National workshop on ‘Bio-prospecting’ concludes

Nellore: Dr Beeda Masthan Rao, former MLA and member of Capital Regional Development Authority (CRDA), said that the government was aiming high to explore marine resources to take it to the all-time high in the coming five years. He addressed the delegates at the valedictory function of the National Workshop on “Bio-prospecting of Marine Bioactive Compounds,” at Vikram Simhapuri University here on Friday.

An expert in shrimp farming, Dr Rao, elaborated on the vision of the government to boost up shrimp exports to a new high from 20,000 tonnes to 1,40,000 tonnes in the coming five years. This would enable the State government to bulk up its foreign reserves to Rs 60,000 crore, he said. In the all-India production of 2 lakh tonnes of shrimp, Andhra Pradesh alone contributes to 64% of production which showed the forthcoming nature of our farmers to catch up with the global trends, he said.

Vice-Chancellor in-charge of the University Prof K Viyyanna Rao said that the preservation of natural wealth was the highest priority for every scientist and every step has to be taken to support the research if such attempt was integrally motivated and produces good results. Registrar in-charge Prof P R Sivasankar said that the University departments were always front-running in terms of research and networking.

This continuous drive for organising national and international events would be encouraged to have a global reckoning for the University, he said. Prof K Murugaiah, Principal of VSU College, said that inter-disciplinary studies have to come up in Marine Biotechnology, Marine Biodiversity and other allied areas to explore new directions in Marine research and coastal aqua studies.