Dr. M. Muruganandam, Head, Fisheries Science Division, ICAR–Central Island Agricultural Research
Institute (ICAR-CIARI), Sri Vijaya Puram, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, delivered a series of special
lectures to the 131st batch officer trainees of ICAR–Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation
(ICAR-IISWC), Dehradun, on 29 May 2026.
Dr. Muruganandam was invited as a Special Guest Faculty Member for the Regular Officer Training
Programme conducted by ICAR-IISWC from 22nd April to 21st August 2026.
During his lectures, he elaborated on the principles of integrated watershed management and its
diverse components, including drainage lines, rivers of different orders, wastelands and
underutilized lands, water harvesting structures, farm ponds, aquatic resources, rural livestock,
rangelands, and community grasslands. He highlighted the opportunities emerging from the
interconnections among these components, such as water harvesting, river management,
upland–lowland interactions, upstream–downstream linkages, and fodder management.
Explaining several contemporary concepts, Dr. Muruganandam discussed the “Mountain to Ocean
(M2O)” source-to-sink approach and the river continuum concept, which explains how fish species
occupy different stretches of river ecosystems and why these aspects must be considered while
planning conservation strategies. He also highlighted the relationship between runoff concentration
time and environmental pollution potential, along with the assumptions involved in designing water
harvesting structures (WHSs), limitations associated with runoff availability, landscape constraints,
and water-use opportunities.
He emphasized the need to balance water harvesting potential with livelihood opportunities and
discussed the effective design of water harvesting structures for integrated fish farming. Further, he
explained the importance of balancing seasonal fodder availability with responsible grazing and
rangeland management. Advanced fish farming technologies, water quality management,
optimization of production inputs, and resource-efficient technologies for fisheries- and livestock-
based rural livelihoods and food production systems were also highlighted during the sessions.
Dr. Muruganandam stressed that watershed management, fisheries development, and livestock
production are inherently complementary and together play a crucial role in ensuring food security,
nutritional well-being, and livelihood enhancement through micro-enterprise development.
Emphasizing that farming and food production systems are subsets of broader environmental
management frameworks, he underlined the importance of balanced fertilizer use in the present
context of fertilizer scarcity and ongoing nationwide awareness campaigns promoting judicious
fertilizer application.
The training programme is being coordinated by Dr. Charan Singh, Head, HRD&SS, ICAR-IISWC, along
with his team comprising Dr. Abhimanyu Jhajhriya, Ms. Indu Rawat, and Dr. Matber Singh, Senior
Scientists at IISWC. Around 20 officer trainees from Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh attended the
sessions.
The lecture sessions concluded with an interactive question-and-answer session, during which the
officer trainees actively engaged in discussions on integrated natural resource management and
sustainable food production systems.