Lucknow, Jul 10 (IANS):  The ICAR-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR) has launched a mobile app through which fish farmers can simply upload a picture/video and ask for solutions to any problem faced during fish rearing.

Queries raised by farmers on the app named Report Fish Disease (RFD) will be answered by experts from NBFGR.

"Aquaculture is one of the fastest growing food-producing sectors in the world and has an immense role to play in meeting the rising demand for animal protein. However, diseases are serious constraints to the sustainable growth of aquaculture. Early detection is key to the control of diseases and can be achieved only through a structured surveillance programme," said NBFGR director U.K. Sarkar.

He said under the central government's National Surveillance Programme for Aquatic Animal Diseases (NSPAAD) a mobile app "Report Fish Disease (RFD)" has been developed by NBFGR.

"All farmers need to do download the app from PlayStore and register themselves, and use it to report the diseases in finfish, shrimps, molluscs and others. The farmers have a provision to report brief case history and upload photos/videos of the fish," Sarkar said.

He said disease information will immediately reach the field level-officers as well as fish health experts and would help the farmers get scientific advice for quickly addressing the problem.

"The app will be a central platform for connecting fish farmers, field-level officers and fish health experts. It is envisaged that the app would help in minimizing losses due to outbreak of diseases to a large extent. The use of the app on the farm site would facilitate the geotagging of the farms thereby helping in monitoring the disease cases on time and geographical scale," he added.