Monthly meeting of Innovative Fish Farmers Association (IFFA) of Punjab (Regd.) was held at the fish farm of Sh. Navdeep Singh in village Hayatpur of District Ludhiana, under the technical handholding of College of Fisheries (COF), Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana. Dr. Vaneet Inder Kaur, coordinator IFFA informed tha
t 57 fish farmers attended the meeting and were apprised of the best management aquaculture practices and new climate smart aquaculture technologies to brush up their knowledge base with innovative ideas to combat upcoming challenges of climate change and food safety. Dr. Grishma Tewari and Dr. Amit Mandal coordinated the technical sessions and delivered expert lectures on fish pond management during the seasonal transition period; natural food production; innovative feeding regimes; and species/culture system diversification, for higher productivity and profitability.
The IFFA president S. Ranjodh Singh and vice president S. Jasvir Singh surfacef different activities and issues of the farmers, which were satisfactorily resolved with suitable solutions by the university experts. Dr. Meera D. Ansal, Dean COF informed that IFFA is playing an instrumental role connecting farmers in the region and is linked to the university since its inception for consultancy, technical hand holding, capacity building and utility services. With university guidance many members of the association transformed into progressive fish farmers, with documented success stories at national level, she added. 
Dr. Parkash Singh Brar, Director Extension Education applauded the efforts of IFFA in uplifting the fisheries sector through their collaborative ties with the university and advocated the association to spread its connectivity to fish farmers across all districts of the State.
Dr. Inderjeet Singh, Vice-Chancellor highlighted that the university is playing a proactive role in uplifting the livestock farmers through its strong linkages with the dairy, pig, goat, poultry and fish farmers associations of the State. Besides consistent technical support and capacity building of the farmers, university also felicitates the progressive farmers with Chief Minister’s Awards every year for their exemplary work in different fields to recognize their contributions to the sector, he added.
