Haryana govt forwards Rs 73 crore fisheries project to Centre

Chandigarh, Nov 5 (UNI) The Haryana Government has forwarded a project costing Rs 73 crore for the approval of the Union Government in order to boost the production of fisheries in the state.

Disclosing this here today, Secretary Fisheries Samir Mathur said that the production of fish which was only 600 tonnes per year on the inception of the state has now gone up to 48,200 tonnes. He said out of 10,000 village ponds in the state, 80 per cent have been covered under fish culture and village Panchayats were earning Rs four crore from leasing of these ponds every year.

In addition to this, private farmers have also constructed 2000 ponds in their land. The fish production from these ponds was about 46,000 tonnes per year making Haryana the second highest in per hectare production in the country.

He said that for the demonstration of fish farming technology, freshwater prawn culture and poly culture, two ponds have been developed by the Fisheries Department in Haryana Raj Bhavan here.

The main objective of this project is to demonstrate and disseminate the technology of intensive fish and prawn culture and also provide knowledge of three new varieties namely Tilapia nilotica, Puntinus javanicus and Etroplus suratensis (Pearl spot) to the farmers.

Mr Mathur stated that as quality fish seed was the basic requisite for a successful farming, 14 fish seed farms in the government sector, 14 fish seed hatcheries in the private sector and 50 fish seed rearing units were meeting the 300 lakh fish seed demand of the state every year. A new fish seed farm was being constructed at Ottu and fish seed farms at Badhkhal and Tohana were being upgraded to increase the production capacity.

Aquaculture Research and Training Institute established with World bank Assistance at Hisar provides basic training in fish farming and seed production and refresher courses to the young graduates opting for this profession. More than 2000 persons are being provided training every year.

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