SS Agrow Tech, Namakkal organized Technical Seminar on Poultry farms Fly Problems & Solutions on 06.08.2024 at Hotel Nala, Trichy Road, Namakkal, chaired by MRI.Magdum (Venkateswara Hatcheries Pvt.LtD, Hosur), Dr.M.Selvaraju ( Dean, TANUVAS,Namakkal),  Dr.D.Chandrasekar (Professor (Retd) and Nutrition Consultant), Mr.K.Singaraj (President, Tamilnadu Poultry Farmers Association & Zonal Chairman, NECC), Mr.V.Subramanian (President, Tamilnadu Egg Poultry Farmers Marketing Society), Mr.Pannerselvam (President, Egg and Poultry Products Exporters Association) and Mr.Valsan ( Secretary, All India Poultry Products Exporters Association). Mr.D. Vijayanand, Director, Business Development gave a presentation on "Fly Control, Odour Control and Wet Litter Management by using Microme Product" and poultry products Microme and G Phages Poultry, displayed at the stall.

Trouw Nutrition India organized the second season of Trouw Talks in association with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), focusing on Anti-microbial Resistance, a fast-rising global reality and public health concern, and how right strategies for Gut Health Management today can support the efforts toward responsible usage of antibiotics tomorrow.  This session was held on Coimbatore on 13 September 2022, chaired by Dr. Jayaraman Krishnarajan (renowned Poultry Consultant), Dr. Natrajan (Professor and Head, Animal Feed Analytical and Quality Assurance Lab., VCRI, Namakkal), Dr. Peter Smid, Dr. Saurabh Shekhar, Dr. Ramesh Kumar (CEO, Salem Microbes Pvt. Ltd.) and Mr. Himanshu Saxena. The session was moderated by Dr. Ramesh Kumar and Dr. Natarajan A.  This event gave a clear brief on how we have seen the anti-microbial resistance progress over the years and how our current actions are going to be important. Speakers has explained how over the course of time there have been gradual shifts from AGPs as the search for alternatives to antibiotics in food production system continues.  Their suggestion to the audience was that prepare in advance and ensure to have a framework that is able to mitigate the fast changing outside world.

Workshop on Successful Shrimp Hatchery & Farming Operations in Bangladesh Organized By U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) on 24-01-2024 at Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Considering the potential available in Bangladesh and with growing need for adopting technologies to sustainable aquaculture, USSEC initiated this workshop in building roadmap for promoting shrimp aquaculture in Bangladesh. Eminent speakers from India and Bangladesh discussed the current status of shrimp aquaculture worldwide and high lighted the ways and means for promoting sustainable shrimp aquaculture in Bangladesh. In this event, Dr.D.Ramesh Kumar, CEO of Salem Microbes made a presentation on "Microbial Management in Shrimp Hatcheries".

AQUA EXPO 2023 is the most important commercial technical shrimp event on the continent that has been held for more than 20 years in Ecuador; organized by the National Chamber of Aquaculture, Guayaquil, Ecuador from Oct. 23-26, 2023.with the main objective of promoting knowledge and innovation of the aquaculture community, on a global scale.

In this event, Dr.D.Ramesh Kumar, CEO of Salem Microbes made a presentation on “Insights into effectiveness of pathogenic Vibrio specific Bacteriophage cocktail therapy in shrimp Hactchery and Growout” under the session on “Health Management in Shrimp Culture System” of AQUA EXPO 2023. 

He detailed about the effectivenesss of the Batceriophages cocktail formulated against Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Vibrio alginolyticus, Vibrio harveyi, Vibrio campbelli and other pathogenic vibrio species encountered in shrimp hatchery and growout ecosystem using the conventional microbiological and molecular tools.

All India Shrimp Hatcheries Association (AISHA) organised Hatch India 2023 conference on 29 and 30 September 2023 at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh with the objective of initiating a dialogue between broodstock suppliers and hatcheries. Dr.D.Ramesh Kumar, CEO of Salem Microbes made a presentation on “Microbial Management in Shrimp Hatcheries through Alternate approaches” in the 2^nd day session on “Disease Management” of HATCH INDIA 2023. In his presentation, he gave an overview on microbiota of normal and diseased Shrimps in Hatchery conditions. He explained the relationship between infective microbial community on the Shrimp brood-stock and PL produced  and the importance of genomic studies to understand this.

He gave 3 Stage treatment strategy when you want to achieve a Disease-free state in a hatchery. His recommendations are (1) Probiotics for Water quality management ,(2)Bacteriophages for controlling pathogenic Vibrio’s  and (3) A New proprietary approach called SIM MICROBIOTA, where he gave more emphasis on the Shrimp intestinal pathogen management (SIM).

He highlighted the following points,

(1)He said that, by using a General Probiotics, we still get many problems as Poor conversion, Zoea 2 syndrome leading to less production.

(2) He showed the difference between Before and after use of Vibrio killing Bacteriophages in different sections of a Hatchery and how it will positively influence the final production.

(3) In SIM MICROBIOTA PROGRAM, the emphasis was on the management of Intestinal pathogens of the Brood stock first and then the PLs produced from those broodstock. He explained that, when you continuously maintain a Healthy gut in the Broodstock, it has a remarkable effect on the PLs as lot of pathogenic Bacteria get inside the PLs even though we practice egg washing and other sanitary procedures.

(4) He said that the primary cause of incidence of White gut, White fecal, Running mortality which is widely reported in farms since last 2 years has  a common origin of the presence of various pathogenic Vibrio species apart from EHP, where Vibriosis can be controlled by this SIM PROGRAM.

He finally advised Hatcheries to equally care for Preventive and treatment aspect through Good Microbiota Management for a successful Hatchery cycle.

During the panel discussion session, he explained the benefit of using Liquid Bacteriophages which is more appropriate and effective in aquaculture applications. He also added that the Liquid bacteriophages are quick acting, does not cause turbidity and solubility problem and can be equally effective as Water and feed supplement.

Salem Microbes Private Limited Signed MoU with Vikrama Simhapuri University, Nellore, Andhra Pradesh on 25.06.2020.  Dr. L. Vijaya Krishna Reddy, Registrar of Vikrama Simhapuri University, and Mr.T.Jayababu, Area Manager, Salem Microbes Private Limited signed the MoU in the presence of Prof. R. Sudarsana Rao, Vice-Chancellor, and other three staff members. The purpose of this MoU is to train scientifically and technically the fishery professionals required for the industry as part of the In-plant Training Curriculum.

Salem Microbes Private Limited Signed an MoU with Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS) Chennai in 2021 for the Establishment of an Incubation Centre at TANUVAS. Dr. K. Vijayarani, Director of Research, and Dr. D. Vijayanand, Director signed MoU in the presence of Dr. D. Ramesh Kumar, Managing Director, Salem Microbes, Dr. K.N. Selvakumar, Vice-Chancellor, TANUVAS, Dr. B. Mohan, Controller of Examinations, TANUVAS, Dr. C. Soundararajan, Director of Centre for Animal Health Studies and Mr. N. Arul mani, TANUVAS Incubation Centre, Chennai.

The Honourable Chief Minister's Award for the Best Entrepreneur from the MSME Department, Ministry of Rural Industries at District Level for the year 2017-2018 was presented to M/s. Salem Microbes Private Limited, Salem by the Respectable District Collector Mr.S.A. Raman, I.A.S., in the Presence of the Project Direct, DRDA, Mr.N.Aruljothy Arasan, and the General Manager, District Industries Centre, Mr.D.Sivakumar. Dr.D.Rameshkumar, Managing Director and Mr.D.Vijayanand, Director, Salem Microbes Private Limited received the award on behalf of the company.

At a time when the bacterial disease is posing a major threat to shrimp seed production, the ICAR­ Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA) has developed a bacteriophage-based product that is effective in biocontrol of the bacterial diseases in shrimp hatchery settings which would help produce quality shrimp seeds, free from antibiotics. The 'phage prophylaxis and therapy' developed by the research institute is based on bacteriophages which are viruses that kill only specific disease-causing bacteria and act as therapeutic agents in controlling bacterial infections, according to CIBA scientists. Unlike in the case of antibiotics, bacteriophage therapy has no residual issues and has the advantage of being specific to their host bacteria without harming other micro-organisms, they said.

A broad spectrum of lytic bacteriophages from the aquaculture system and coastal ecosystem of India has been used for the formulation of the product which has proved its efficacy in field evaluation trials. Bacteriophages and their lytic enzymes are in use for therapy of bacterial infections in humans and animals as bio-control agents for food protection, and as tools in molecular biology.

Aimed at popularising the product through large-scale commercial production and marketing, CIBA signed an MoU with Salem Microbes Private Limited, Salem to transfer the technology to the latter. Dr. K.K. Vijayan, Director CIBA emphasized the need for increased collaboration between research institutions and the industrial players, to bring out novel technologies to the stakeholders for sustainable development of brackishwater aquaculture in the country. Mr. Ramesh Kumar, CEO of Salem Microbes informed that Salem Microbes is keen to partnering with CIBA in scaling up phage technology for the benefit of the aquaculture sector. The company focuses on the exploitation of microbes for improved farming productivity and environmental quality. 

ICAR-CIBA conducted a national webinar on "Biofloc-based aquaculture:  a  way forward"  to disseminate the science, technology, and practice behind it to the thousands of farmers and young start-up entrepreneurs who were highly excited about this new technology, and wanted to enter into the biofloc farming. This digital event was inaugurated by Dr. Joykrushna Jena, DDG (Fisheries), ICAR. In his address, he impressed upon the immense potential of biofloc technology in the Indian aquaculture sector, not only in brackish water shrimp aquaculture.

As a part of the virtual event, 'CIBAFLOC ', a ready-made inoculum developed by ICAR-CIBA for the development and maintenance of biofloc, was released. The technology was transferred to the industrial partner M/s Salem Microbes Pvt Ltd on a virtual mode by DDG, fisheries. Dr. J. K. Jena complimented M/ S   Salem   Microbes   for   recognizing   the potential of ‘CIBAFLOC’ developed by CIBA for the benefit of all those who are venturing into biofloc based farming of shellfish and finfish in India.

M/s Salem Microbes Pvt Ltd is a leader in microbial products and has their presence in the Indian market for the past two decades, presently diversifying into aquaculture. Mr. D. Ramesh Kumar, the CEO, M/S Salem Microbes, shared his happiness for partnering with CIBA for the scaling up of ‘CIBAFLOC’, and he assured that the product would benefit the biofloc farmers.