Kolkata: A bioactive product invented by a start-up incubated at IIT Kharagpur's Science and Technology Entrepreneurs' Park is silently changing the face of aquaculture in parts of eastern India. Mr Fish, produced with the latest technology, is one-of-a-kind of product that not only increases the size of the fish in the least possible time but, and more importantly, enhances its taste and nutritional quality.
Mr Fish, produced by the IIT Kharagpur start up Zelence, the product has proved to be a boon for the fish farmers.
Pijush Kanti Bhanja, a fish farmer from Moyna in Midnapore , who used Mr Fish for a month, saw drastic improvement in the yield.
He said: "All the varieties of carp, particularly the Roopchand, in my farm have undergone a healthy increase in size. My neighbours told me that fish from my farm taste much better than those available in the market." "Most of the products in the market deal with disease control in fish farming but no product ensures fish taste and quality. That is why Mr Fish is such a novelty," said Prof. Jayanta Bhattacharya of the Department of Mining Engineering and School of Environmental Science and Engineering.
Prof. Bhattacharya is also one of the directors of Zelence.
Mr Fish is produced from natural bioactive molecules and some isolated and innovated probiotics. Of liquid consistency, Mr Fish improves the feed conversion ratio, enhances particular amino acids, and regulates the control of uniform distribution of fats and proteins in fish cells that results in improved shine, storability and taste of fish.