IN FOCUS: ICAR-CENTRAL INSTITUTE OF FISHERIES TECHNOLOGY, KOCHI
ICAR-CIFT (Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Central Institute of Fisheries Technology) — the only technology institute in India which caters to the entire spectrum of fisheries from harvest to post-harvest operations — has been in the service of the nation since 1957 under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi. Today, contributions in three vital areas, viz., nutritional security, employment generation and foreign exchange earnings, have made fisheries a vibrant food sector of the Indian economy. CIFT has an increasingly vital role to play in the emerging fisheries scenario. We, as the premier fishery technology institute, focus on maintaining a harmonious relation with the fishing and fish processing industries in order to help them in their development and contribute to the nation’s economy as well as food security.
The ICAR-CIFT, under the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), New Delhi, is the only national institute carrying out research in all disciplines of fisheries harvest and post-harvest. Set up in 1957, following the recommendation of a high-power committee constituted by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Government of India, the administrative control of the institute was brought under the ICAR in October 1967. The headquarters of ICAR-CIFT is in Kochi, the queen of the Arabian Sea and an epicentre of fisheries activities. The institute’s research centres function in Veraval (Gujarat), Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Mumbai (Maharashtra). The institute is mandated to carry out basic and strategic research in fishing and fish processing, designing and developing
energy efficient fishing systems for responsible fishing and sustainable management, developing implements
and machinery for fishing and fish processing, and developing human resource in the sector through training, education and extension. The institute has been focusing on research aimed at minimizing biodiversity loss and environmental impacts, maximizing utilization of resources with stress on value addition of existing fishery products and effective waste management. In addition, the institute has also been playing a vital role in developing, recommending and implementing standards for fishing gears, fish products and waste management systems
in fish processing industries. Through its contributions, the institute has played an important role in modernising the
fishing and fish processing sectors of the country which are major sources of livelihood and income to the people involved and a revenue earner for the country. The institute is certified under the ISO 17025 and ISO 9001:2015 and is a National Referral and Reference Lab for fish and fishery products.
The institute is headed by a Director and research is carried out on six divisions: Fishing Technology; Fish Processing; Biochemistry & Nutrition; Quality Assurance & Management; Microbiology, Fermentation & Biotechnology; and Extension, Information & Statistics, apart from an Engineering section. The institute has 75 scientists, ably supported by 76 technical and 55 administrative and other staff.
FACILITIES
Laboratories
The institute has well established laboratories for undertaking research under projects handled by multi-disciplinary
scientific teams. As early as 2005, the laboratories were accredited by National Accreditation Board for Laboratories
(NABL), New Delhi, for ISO/IEC 17025 in the field of Chemical, Mechanical and Biological testing. The integrated assessment of the testing laboratories as per ISO/IEC 17025: 2017 and FSSAI conducted by NABL has been periodically carried out with the latest being in 2021. The accreditation has been maintained ever since 2005 and the current scope stands at 380 parameters, which includes testing of 309 Chemical parameters, 62 Biological parameters and 9 Mechanical parameters. The National Referral Laboratory facility in the institute is also accredited as per ISO/IEC 17025: 2017.
All Images Courtesy: Central Institute of Fisheries Technology
The ICAR-CIFT became one of the 13 National Reference Laboratory (NRL) for Fish and Fish Products of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India in
2019, the only ICAR fisheries research institute recognised thus. The National Reference Laboratories have been set up with a vision of creating a laboratory system network at par with global food testing laboratories for method development, method validation, proficiency testing and training by national/ international accreditation bodies.
Besides research work, the laboratories are also engaged in testing of water, fish & fishery products, residues in
water and fish and fishery products and chemical testing of feed (fish, shrimp, prawn feed), mechanical testing of
packaging materials and craft & gear materials meeting the requirements of ISO/IEC:17025:2017, laboratory’s customers, regulatory authorities and other stakeholder organisations. The laboratories are committed to continual improvement of laboratory activities by using latest equipment/ CRMs, up-grading knowledge/ instruments and enhancing the technical expertise of qualified and experienced personnel through proper training. ICAR-CIFT laboratories are also committed to customer satisfaction by maintaining confidentiality, impartiality and integrity in its operations, and seeking feedback from customer for continuous improvement in its management system transfer.
Semi-Commercial Pilot Plant Facility
A state-of-the art pilot level facility is set up as part of Agribusiness Incubation Centre, with 9 state-of-the-art production lines along with Culinary Centre and Product Development Centre. The incubatees are given access to these FSSAI approved facilities for the semi-commercial production of fish and meat-based products
Zonal Technology Management – Agribusiness Incubation (ZTM-ABI) Centre
The Zonal Technology Management – Agribusiness Incubation (ZTM-ABI) Centre at ICAR-CIFT, Kochi, supports operations on business projects as a measure of enhancing the foundation for new technology-based industries and establishing a knowledge-based economy. The centre helps prospective entrepreneurs, by providing pro-active and value-added business support in terms of technical consultancy, infrastructure facility, experts’ guidance, and training to develop technology-based business ideas and establish sustainable enterprises.
The centre is tailored specifically for technology-based industries and is operational at an area with a high concentration of fish production. This industry specific incubator allows new firms to tap into local knowledge and business networks that are already in place. ZTM-ABI centre aims to bring its benefits to all the fisheries communities in India and possess good infrastructure suitable for providing direct incubation to entrepreneurs in a corporate environment.
Agricultural Technology Information Centre (ATIC) & Agricultural Knowledge Management Unit (AKMU)
An Agricultural Technology Information Centre (ATIC) serves as a single window system to display the research output in a small museum and to provide technological information along with technology products for their testing and use. An Agricultural Knowledge Management Unit (AKMU) meets the ICT needs of the institute by providing and maintaining the internet, email, video conferencing and other computer related facilities.
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
The ICAR-CIFT’s main mandate is technology development in fishing and fish processing, and related fields. Technologies developed by the ICAR-CIFT have played a crucial role in modernizing the harvest and post-harvest fishery sectors of India and help making it a major exporter of processed fish and fish products. Efforts are also made to popularize research results through technology demonstration, capacity building programmes, consultancies and other means of technology transfer.
Harvest Technologies
The development of responsible fishing systems has been a focus area right from the inception of the institute. The initial designs of mechanised fishing vessels operating along the Indian coast were developed by the institute. A recent intervention was the 19.75 m fuel efficient, multi-purpose fishing vessel FV Sagar Harita. A design of deep-sea fishing vessel given by the institute is also approved for implementation under Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana and already 463 such vessels have been constructed under the Yojana. Fishing systems also include fishing gears (nets) of which several designs focused on resource sustainability have been developed and popularized. The designs of low drag trawls like UHMWPE trawl, cutaway top belly trawl and short body shrimp trawl, have been useful in reducing fuel consumption of trawlers. There is also extensive work on material used for fishing vessels and gear to make them more durable and economical. For ensuring sustainability of resources, reducing by-catch and juveniles several by-catch reduction devices also have been designed, developed and popularized. These include Turtle Excluder Devices (TED), species and juvenile sorting devices, etc.
Post-Harvest Technologies
The post-harvest technology divisions of ICAR-CIFT lay stress on complete utilisation of resources and includes in its ambit handling and preservation right from harvesting, value addition, waste management and quality assurance. The institute has supported the fish processing industry since its nascent stage and still continuing to do so by developing technologies for preservation and processing of almost all commercially important varieties of fish and shellfish. ICAR-CIFT have successfully developed technology packages for value added fish products and specialty products, and fish/shrimp-based convenience products. Processing technologies for chilled, frozen, dried & salted, smoked, retort pouch processed, extruded products, etc., have been developed. Research novel processing technologies like microwave processing, ohmic heating, infrared and radiofrequency processing technologies, high pressure processing, ultrasound processing, bio preservation, preservation using enzymes, etc., are being actively pursued.
Besides fish processing equipment, sensors and measurement systems for fisheries and environmental applications are also being developed. Designs of fish (and other products) from very simple ones to more complex hybrid ones have been developed. Hybrid models have LPG, biogas, biomass or electricity as alternate back up. Work on commercial isolation of bioactive compounds and industrially important products from fish and fishery wastes are also attempted. A pioneering work carried out has been on Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) in the fisheries sector in the country. Valuable data and information on this very important aspect impacting human health has been generated.
A crucial input has been in assuring quality and safety of fish and fishery products through inputs for developing standards. The commercial seafood processing industry of the country is mainly export-oriented and the institute plays a major role in ensuring maintenance of quality standards in the processing plants. Following a ban on export of shrimp from India to EU nations in the late 1990s owing to quality issues, the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India had constituted two committees, viz., and Inter Departmental Panel (IDP) involving three governmental agencies including ICAR-CIFT for preliminary inspection of processing plants to oversee whether the quality requirements have been met, and a Supervisory Audit Team (SAT) exclusively comprising ICAR-CIFT scientists and senior officers of MPEDA to accord recommendation for final approval. As mentioned earlier, the institute is both a Referral and Reference Lab for fish and fishery products.
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
The ABI of the institute targets entrepreneurs, from fledgling start-ups in need of basic small scale processing capacity to sophisticated businesses in need of R&D back up, and provides office infrastructure and pilot/ test market, processing facility for the development of new products.
Besides this, ICAR-CIFT offers capacity building programmes for stakeholders across the sector including fishermen and women, students, technologists, officials from fisheries and other rural development departments, etc. On an average, about 70 programmes are conducted every year benefiting about 1000 persons. Central Sector Schemes for Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes and for the Northeastern Region are conducted and in 2022-23, 97 programmes benefitting 2637 were organised where activities included creation of fishing and fish processing assets, and training programmes. International trainees participate in programmes funded by ITEC, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, and over the past 10 years, the institute has organised 24 programmes for 278 participants from 55 countries.
WAY FORWARD
The institute is committed to working for the fishing and fish processing sectors of the country and will continue to be in the forefront of technology development and dissemination for the development of the sector, including the vulnerable sections of our society. The programmes are in alignment with national priorities and goals of a Viksit Bharat by 2047.
*Dr George Ninan is Director, ICAR-CIFT, Kochi, and Dr Nikita Gopal is Head, EIS Division, ICAR-CIFT, Kochi.
