SURESH KUMAR MOJJADA

My research focuses on transdisciplinary approaches to complex challenges in fisheries, aquaculture, and the blue economy, integrating marine-bio science with geospatial intelligence, artificial intelligence, economics, technology innovation, entrepreneurship, and policy. My work began with a practical question: how can offshore and open-sea farming be made technically feasible, economically viable, environmentally sustainable, and scalable in Indian marine conditions? This led to the development and field application of indigenous technologies for sea-cage farming of marine finfish and lobster, seaweed cultivation, integrated aquaculture, and recirculatory systems. These efforts contributed to the diversification and advancement of mariculture technologies suited to Indian seas. A major research contribution has been the development of geospatial and decision-support approaches for marine aquaculture planning. This work has progressed from site-suitability modelling to integrated decision architectures that combine environmental, spatial, biological, and economic parameters. Such approaches have supported identification of suitable areas for sea-cage and seaweed farming and provided scientific inputs for sustainable mariculture expansion and blue-economy planning. My research has also demonstrated the value of combining technology with techno-economic and decision modelling. I have contributed to decision-support frameworks for lobster production, fiscal forecasting for sea-cage enterprises, assessment of production costs and energy efficiency, and evaluation of climate-related risks to aquaculture. The aim is to ensure that a technology is assessed not only for biological performance but also for economic viability, scalability, resilience, and real-world adoption. A significant part of my impact has come through innovation and technology translation. I am an inventor/co-inventor of 15 patents and industrial designs covering aquaculture devices, systems, methods, and processes, and a co-developer of 4 ICAR technologies/products, including spatial data-driven tools for seaweed-farming site suitability, interactive coastal mapping, and integrated multi-trophic aquaculture. Several of these innovations have progressed toward commercialization, adoption, or wider popularization, demonstrating a research-to-impact pathway beyond academic publication. My work has also contributed to strategy, policy, and governance for sustainable blue-economy development, particularly in seaweed farming and marine spatial planning. I have contributed scientific and technical inputs to policy initiatives and strategic planning, including work related to the National Seaweed Mission and the regulatory framework for seaweed farming. My field-level work in challenging coastal and border marine environments has further demonstrated how scientific technologies can be integrated with government agencies, communities, industry, and other stakeholders to address complex development objectives. Increasingly, my research is moving toward AI-driven decision intelligence, digital transformation, and digital-twin-enabled systems. I am interested in developing platforms that integrate heterogeneous environmental, spatial, biological, economic, and policy data to generate predictive, scenario-based, and actionable intelligence. Such systems could help stakeholders answer questions such as where to develop an activity, which technology to adopt, what risks to anticipate, how climate or market conditions may alter outcomes, and which development pathway is most sustainable. The broader purpose of my research is therefore to bridge science, technology, enterprise, policy, and society. I seek to develop holistic and evidence-based pathways in which research generates innovation, innovation enables viable enterprises, and evidence informs strategy and policy. Ultimately, my goal is to contribute to intelligent, climate-resilient, economically viable, and environmentally sustainable offshore and open-sea farming systems as a foundation for the next generation of India's blue economy.