Smt. J. Mercykutty Amma, Minister for Fisheries, Harbor Engineering and Cashew Industry, Government of Kerala inaugurated the Clam Processing Facility set-up by the ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Cochin at the Perumbalam Island in Alappuzha District of Kerala. The facility has been set-up for the benefit of clam fisherwomen.
Smt. Amma applauded the ICAR-CIFT’s efforts for its successful technology intervention in fisheries to bring the livelihood security which can be a model for the other areas too.
Shri Ariff, Adv. Abdul Majeed, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), Alappuzha, Kerala was also present during the occasion.
Dr. Ravishankar C.N., Director, ICAR-CIFT outlined the clam processing facility’s importance. He stated that the project has been able to standardize the protocols for processing clam; develop and demonstrate value-added products; design and fabricate customized machinery required for the processing; build capacities of the local people and establish the clam processing facility.
Earlier, Shri K.S. Shibu, President, Perumbalam Panchayat delivered the welcome address.
About 250 families of the village dependent on the clam fishery for their livelihood will be directly benefited from the initiative. The facility was set-up under a project funded by the SEED Division, Department of Science & Technology, New Delhi.
The project implemented in a participatory mode involved the Perumbalam Gram Panchayat and the Haritha Farmers’ Club from the village.
The clam processing facility is a fully integrated one, including the depuration tanks system for depurating clams; processing hall equipped with tables, flake ice machine, chill room; a cooking-cum-boiler unit for cooking and shucking the clams and a meat-shell separator for mechanically separating the meat from the shell.
