A Gopalakrishnan, Director of the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute has won the VASVIK (Vividhlaxi Audyogik Samshodhan Vikas Kendra) Industrial Research Award for the year 2020 in the category of Agricultural Sciences and Technology.
The award, which carries a cash prize of ₹1.51 lakh and citation, is in recognition of his significant contribution towards the research works related to fish genetics which is relevant for conserving many commercially important and endangered species.
The VASVIK research award is presented to scientists and researchers who have excelled in various fields including agricultural sciences.
His research works include the Genetic Stock Identification (GSI), species inventory, taxonomy, breeding and seed production of threatened and commercially important species for mariculture which has helped in improving scientific knowledge on Indian fishery and the conservative measures.
The award committee observed that Gopalakrishnan’s genetic studies conducted and the technologies developed have served to produce molecular markers for many endangered fishes which is crucial for biodiversity conservation. Broodstock development techniques and mariculture technologies formulated and standardised by him have helped in the economic uplift of the society by providing alternate livelihoods.
Apart from Agricultural Sciences and Technology, the VASVIK research award is given in eight categories every year.