On October 11, the Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Minister, Virender Kanwar announced a new scheme where almost 15 new fish ponds would be made around the areas within 5 years in order to promote land based fish farming in the state.
According to the Minister the whole land based fish farming would be done using the RAS technology where all the waste and C02 produced would be either removed or converted into non toxic substance and the water would again be flown into the fish ponds. This way there would be a new trend of reusing the water for various other agriculture practices.
The scheme would also allow the fish farmers to keep growing varieties of fish throughout the year irrespective of seasonal problems.
Out of the 15 farms, 10 farms would be set up in the cold water fisheries with mostly rainbow troutto be grown in Kinnaur, Sirmaur, Shimla, Mandi, Chamba and Kullu districts while 5 of the farms would be set up in Sirmaur, Mand, Una and Kangra, the districts with general waters which would raise fishes like pangasius, tilapia & common carp.
Kanwar also claimed that almost 270 tonnes of annual production of fish is expected after all the 15 farms become functional.
For the proper implementation of the scheme farmers of the First Batch would be trained thoroughly about the new technique called the RAS and will also receive training on how to use the new aquaculture techniques properly. For this they would be sent to the National Fisheries Development Board, Hyderabad.
The Minister also claimed that the private sectors would also be getting some incentives on setting up of land fish farm. Around 40 % for general categories and 60% for SC/ST/Women’s financial aid would be given to the entrepreneurs for the land fish farm setup and functioning.
