National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (ICAR-NBFGR) under National Surveillance Programme for Aquatic Animal Diseases (NSPAAD) developed an App ‘Report Fish Disease’ aiming to remain informed about aquatic animal diseases.

The App would support farmers in improving farmer-based reporting, getting scientific advice, and reducing losses due to diseases, thereby increasing farmers’ income. Also, Fish Disease Reporting App shall have a massive impact on fish disease management, promoting early detection, rapid response, collaboration, and knowledge sharing. It will contribute to the sustainability and resilience of aquaculture systems by minimizing the negative impacts of fish diseases on fish population, industry, and ecosystems.

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The app intends to facilitate the people to come under the single platform from diverse backgrounds to understand the significance of early disease detection, rapid response, and effective management strategies in the aquaculture industry

Surveillance for aquatic animal diseases is essential for early detection of diseases, thereby minimizing their impacts. Early detection of diseases is important for eradication and containment. Many cases of diseases in aquaculture go unreported due to unavailability of the field-level disease reporting mechanism. Therefore, there is a necessity of a mechanism that can connect farmers, field-level officers, and fish health experts.

The app is meant to serve all the aquaculture farmers, fishers, fisheries officials of State & UTs, fisheries scientist and other stakeholders. Aquaculture sector is witnessing a growth over the years and at present, total exports earnings from the sector are approximately Rs.57586.48 crores (2021-22). However, the diseases are the major constraint to the growth of the aquaculture.

In this regard, for strengthening the farmer-based disease reporting system and for improving the reporting of aquatic animal diseases in the country, Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Parshottam Rupala will launch the Report Fish Disease (RFD) App on 28th June, 2023.

The app has been developed by ICAR-NBFGR under National Surveillance Programme for Aquatic Animal Diseases (NSPAAD), funded under Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana by the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India.

The RFD app will help the farmers in reporting incidence of diseases in finfish, shrimps, on their farms with the field level-officers and fish health experts. This shall help farmers in getting the scientific advice for efficient management of disease. The data regarding the diseases will be stored on temporal & spatial scale and can be used for mapping the disease cases.