With Haryana awarded the second position in per unit fish productivity in the country, the state government has chalked out a strategy to increase fish catch.
Haryana agriculture minister Paramvir Singh said the fisheries department had set a target of bringing 20,000 hectare of water area under fish farming by stocking 4,000 lakh fish seeds by the end of the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-12) from 16,275 hectare at present. It is aiming to harvest 88,125 tonne fish in 2009-10 which would be increased to 1 lakh tonne by the end of the 11th Five-Year Plan.
On productivity, the target had been pegged at 5,300 kg/hectare/year in 2009-10 from 5,200 kg/hectare/year in 2008-09. He said the work on the strategy is showing results results. The fisheries department had managed to earn revenue of Rs 50.08 lakh up to November, 2009, against Rs 49.36 lakh during 2008-09, despite drought-like conditions in the state.
The state government had set up 18 Fish Farmers Development Agencies to extend technical and financial assistance to farmers who had either taken village ponds on long lease, or had excavated ponds on own land. Panchayats were earning more than Rs 20 crore/annum from lease money.
He said the department had set up fish health care centres at district level. Similarly, aquatic labs had been set up at all government fish seed farms to enhance per unit fish seed productivity by reducing the mortality rate in young fish juveniles.
In all, 114 field offices were working to extend technical and financial help to fish farmers. There were15 fish seed farms in government sector and 16 in the private sector to meet the demand for fish seed.
The agriculture minister said the state had good resources in the shape of rivers, drains, canals, lakes, small reservoirs, water harvesting dams, community and own land ponds for the development of fisheries. Water bodies constitute 2% of the total geographical area of the state. At the time of inception, only 58 hectare of water area was under fish farming harvesting only 600 tonne of fish annually, he added.