The Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (CIFA) is a premier research Institute on freshwater aquaculture in the country under the aegeis of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi. The present Institute has had its beginnings in the Pond Culture Division of Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI) established at Cuttack, Orissa in 1949 with a view to face challenges in the field of fish culture in ponds, tanks and other small aquatic body. Subsequently, CIFRI, in a major effort to give emphasis to freshwater aquaculture research, initiated steps to establish the Freshwater Aquaculture Research and Training Centre (FARTC) over 147 ha campus at Kausalyaganga, Bhubaneswar, Orissa. The Centre gradually developed into its full capacity and became an independent Institute during 1987 as Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (CIFA).