Central project to aid pisciculture

Statesman News Service

MALDA, Jan. 14: The Malda fisheries department has planned to upgrade its existing district level laboratories for pisciculture under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikash Yojona (RKVY), a Central government project. The department has submitted its revival plan to the state through the district administration for the development of resources based on agriculture. Under the RKVY project, the district fisheries officials have planned to introduce other schemes for the development of pisciculture in the district, which are already on progress. The department has stressed the need to form women cooperative societies, with the financial assistance from the state fisheries cooperative society based on ornamental fish rearing. “We have already formed 18 women groups in various blocks for pisciculture. A few groups have been engaged in rearing of ornamental fish. At present, a few women groups in Ratua-II, Habibpur and Gazole have initially started ornamental pisciculture," said Mr Milan Ghosh, assistant director of fisheries department. “We have mainly stressed on multipurpose projects, including ornamental fish rearing in the district under RKVY for the next financial year," Mr Ghosh said. This multipurpose projects would help save extinct species of local fishes like Pabda, Tangra, Vyada, Sol, Magur and others local varieties. The object of the multipurpose project is to produce more and more fish. Besides this, the department is interested to invest in dry fish culture in the district. In Malda, a group of people has started dry fish culture in Kaliachak and English Bazaar blocks. The minister for fisheries has recently directed to distribute 1,000 fish free of cost to the societies for wetlands under the social fisheries scheme. The officials of Malda fisheries have admitted that due to rampant use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides to produce crops, many local varieties have disappeared. Not only crop lands, but also some traders and fishermen are using urea in their ponds to boost fish production of a particular variety within a short period of time for profit