Fish farming perking up rural economy in UP

Lucknow

Looking to provide lucrative alternative avenues of income to the farmers, the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government is encouraging rural entrepreneurs to take up fish farming on a commercial scale.

Fish farming or pisciculture is a type of aquaculture which involves the commercial breeding of fish in tanks or artificial enclosures such as fish ponds.

To provide a major leg-up to the segment, the state government had earlier extended the fishery reservoir leasehold duration from three years to 10 years. This has helped UP register about 2.65 million tonnes (MT) in fish production in the last four years.

Now, the government is proactively reaching out to people so that they avail themselves of the services of 57 fish seed hatcheries and 385 fish-seed-rearing units in the state. Interestingly, UP has also received the first prize of the best state in inland fisheries.

“For the welfare of the youth and farmers, the state is running a slew of golden schemes to not only provide benefits to the people but generate direct and indirect employment opportunities,” a senior UP government official said on September 2.

To facilitate earning more profit with less capital, the government is encouraging the setting up of small and micro business units in the rural hinterland. In this regard, fish farming is reckoned as having a large untapped potential for the rural economy.

Apart from imparting training in fisheries, efforts are being made to expand this activity on a larger and commercial scale to gain more traction.

Meanwhile, in the last four years, tens of millions of fish seeds were provided to the sectoral micro-entrepreneurs, while  Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs) were distributed to 7,883 fish farmers.

Moreover, the government has provided fishermen with a free accidental insurance scheme under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana as part of the overarching Self-Reliant India Campaign.