The research and development work on the value addition of water hyacinth carried out at the Centre for Research on Aquatic Resources (CRAR) at Sanatana Dharma (SD) College, Alappuzha has been included in the syllabus for Aquatic Ecosystems and Sustainable Management, a discipline-specific undergraduate course recently approved by the Board of Studies in Zoology of the University of Kerala.
The course will be offered to students of semester II as part of the Four Year Under Graduate Programme. Module IV of the approved syllabus titled “Utilization of Aquatic Resources”, includes the topic value addition of aquatic resources. The work led by G. Nagendra Prabhu, head of the Post Graduate Department of Zoology at SD College and principal investigator at CRAR, along with his research team has been included as a key area of study.
Officials said that Mr. Prabhu and his team’s contributions as part of an international collaborative project on water hyacinth, a perennial aquatic weed that infests waterbodies worldwide, would benefit students. Their innovative approach combines remote sensing (satellite imagery), multi-spectral drone imaging, and ground-level photography to monitor and manage water hyacinth infestations.
“It is a great honour for me as an individual and to my whole research team to see that our research over the last 25 years has been selected to be taught in colleges under the University of Kerala, especially in my retirement year”, Mr. Prabhu said.
Sajeeb Khan, chairman, Board of Studies in Zoology (UG) of the University of Kerala, said the inclusion of Mr. Prabhu’s work was a unanimous decision by the Board members and teachers involved in the syllabus preparation. “It is a token of appreciation from the Zoology fraternity for his contributions to science,” Mr. Khan said.
He added that the National Education Policy 2020 emphasised the need to address local problems and promote innovation and entrepreneurship among students. “The technologies developed by Mr. Prabhu and his team of researchers on the sustainable management of water hyacinth through value addition are ideal examples of this initiative,” Mr. Khan said.
Major value-added products developed by Mr. Prabhu and his group of researchers from the aquatic weed include pulp-based products such as special canvas for paintings, models of animals, fruits and vegetables for children, biodegradable nursery pots, natural dyes from flowers of water hyacinth and biomass briquettes for use as fuel. Eichhotech, a student start-up mentored by Mr. Prabhu developed three unique art forms- water hyacinth dry stem art, single rope art and embroidery using fine threads from water hyacinth.
In addition to the work on water hyacinth, value-addition works on aquatic resources carried out at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute and the Marine Products Export Development Authority have been included as study topics. In Module V titled “Sustainable Management– Issues and Innovations”, the work on remote sensing and other monitoring techniques has been included.
Published – December 27, 2024 07:36 pm IST