Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala has stressed the need for strengthening marketing in the fisheries sector, by evolving a system similar to that of agriculture marketing. He said, State governments should be roped in for this purpose. The Minister was inaugurating a beneficiary meeting in Kozhikode last evening, organised as part of the seventh phase of the Sagar Parikrama programme.

Mr Rupala observed that the fisheries sector can play a vital role in addressing the issue of malnutrition among children, besides ensuring the food security of the nation. He said the government is trying to bring down post-harvest losses in the sector through the PM Matsya Sampada Yojana. Speaking on the occasion, the Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Dr L Murugan said while the total allocation for the fisheries sector remained a meagre 3680 crore rupees upto 2014, the union government set apart over 20,000 crore under the PM Matsaya Sampada Yojana alone. Today, the two Ministers will visit Thrissur and Ernakulam districts as part of the Sagar Parikrama programme.