Pisciculture farmers net Rs 675 crore

Against heavy odds and amid fears of a crisis, farmers of border villages between West Godavari and Krishna districts netted fish worth Rs 675 crore in the first quarter of 2006-07, Rs 75 crore less than what they had reaped in the same quarter in 2005-06.

M V S Nagi Reddy, vice-president, Andhra Pradesh Rythanga Samakhya, told Business Standard that fish tank area had come down to 2 lakh acres after Kolleru demolitions reduced it by 32,000 acres. This led to a hike in tank tenancy rates by Rs 7,000 per acre for new entrants into fish cultivation.

Both Krishna and West Godavari district administrations had launched the demolition drive on Kolleru lake destroying the illegal fish tanks.

He said that farmers this year hoped for a very good price, better than that of last year, and for reduced feed rates. "Their calculations went wrong. The fish price nosedived from Rs 38 to Rs 33 per kg while the rate of main feed de-oiled rice bran (DOB) went up from Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 per tonne," he said.

As a sequel, he said, farmers lost Rs 20,000 per acre on fish price and up to Rs 13,000 per acre due to feed rate hike, cutting his overall earnings by Rs 32,000 per acre. If the situation continues for another six months, fish farmers would incur huge losses, he added.

Farmers earned profits in 2005-06. Before that, drought dragged them into heavy losses for three years. Last year, the productivity was 4 tonne, while earlier it used to be 3 tonne. They had now lost hopes of remunerative fish prices and reduced feed rates.

He appealed to chief minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy to sanction compensation to farmers, whose 12,000 acres of patta land below fifth contour turned into wasteland during Kolleru demolitions.

He also sought creation of new avenues of livelihood for peasants made jobless by the demolitions, as release of 15 lakh fish seed into Kolleru by the fisheries department would not sustain them.

He said officials also should create awareness among people about the benefits of fish eating and its medicinal and therapeutic values.

The government should take the help of the Central Fisheries Board, soon to be set up in Hyderabad, in these market-boosting measures, Nagi Reddy added.