Kochi, Mar 27 (PTI) In a boost to the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute"s (CMFRI) efforts to popularise its cage fish farming technology, one of the farmers associated with it has won the "Thozhil Shreshta" award instituted by Kerala"s State Labour Department. The award was won by P M Dinil Prasad (28) from Kannur for his excellent performance in the fisheries sector, the institute said in a release on Sunday. He won Rs one lakh and a certificate for his tremendous achievement in cage fish farming with a good harvest of pearl spot within a short span of three and half years, CMFRI said. Prasad had quit the Indian Army and undertaken cage fish farming under the guidance of the CMFRI, the release said. "While the CMFRI introduced a Rs 15 crore project funded by the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) to set up 500 cage farming units in Kerala in 2018, Dinil Prasad was the first to receive a unit under the project and upon CMFRI’s guidance he launched the farming in Anjarakandi river in Kannur," it said. Presently, he undertakes farming of 7,000 pearl spots in seven cages of 4-metre and at least 150 kg of yield is expected from each cage, it added. "Along with cage fish farming, Dinil Prasad also runs a seed production unit of pearl spot and mussel farming. In addition, he provides consultancy service, including cage fabrication, site selection, species identification, etc. to those desiring to start cage fish farming. Around 75 cage culture units were launched in many parts of the Malabar region under Dinil"s consultancy," the release said. CMFRI Director Dr A Gopalakrishan expressed his happiness over popularisation of its technology in a way that is highly beneficial to the society. PTI HMP SS SS