Punjab Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar on Sunday urged the state’s farmers to adopt fish farming as auxiliary occupation of the agriculture to increase their income.
Bhulllar, on the eve of World Fisheries Day, said that the Government was providing a 40 percent subsidy for adopting fish farming, and the farmers should derive maximum benefit of the scheme.
Extending greetings to the fish and shrimp farmers, he reiterated that the Punjab Government was committed to provide all possible assistance for adopting fish farming as a profession. “The state government is making continuous progress in the field of Fisheries…Special emphasis is being laid on development of infrastructure for fish farming and increasing fish production in the state,” he added.
He informed that a total 43,691 acres in Punjab is under fisheries, from where 1,89,647 tonnes of fishes are being produced. Shrimp farming is being done in zero-income land affected by waterlogging and saline water in Punjab, which proved to be successful in increasing the income of the farmers. At present, a total area of 1200 acres is under shrimp cultivation.
The Minister said that 15 government fish seed farms are operational in Punjab to provide quality fingerling to the farmers, while new government fish seed farm was being developed at Killianwali village in Fazilka district. Besides, a wholesale-cum-retail government fish market is operational at Ludhiana for clean marketing of fish and another new fish market is under construction at Patiala, which will be operational soon.
“The government has been providing a 40 percent subsidy to the beneficiaries on total cost of the projects such as preparing new ponds for fish/shrimp culture, installation of biofloc system and RAS, establishing fish feed mills and procuring fish transport vehicles etc…Farmers should apply immediately in the concerned offices in their respective districts to take maximum benefit of these schemes,” Bhullar urged the farmers.