The deficient monsoon in the state has not only affected the agricultural operation, but also taken its toll on the production of the fish seed. The spawn (small fish seed) production in the state is likely to be down by about 25 per cent.
The spawn is the early stage of the fish seed like fry and finger-ling. “The production of the fish seed is likely to be reduced by around 25 per cent this year due to erratic rainfall”, says the secretary-cum-commissioner of fishery and animal resources department Satyabrata Sahu.
Worried over the development, his department has asked the fishery officers to maintain the production of quality fish seeds in the reservoirs to ensure that the fish production in the state is not affected.
Sahu, who was on a tour to south Orissa recently, conducted a review of the fishery sector at Berhampur. “We have suggested the fishery officers to preserve quality fish seeds in the reservoirs, so that the fish production will not be affected”, he said.
There are 138 reservoirs in the state, where the fish seeds are stocked by the fishery department and state-owned Orissa Pisciculture Development Corporation (OPDC). The corporation will get around Rs 3 crore from National Fish Development Board (NFDB) for this purpose this year. The government aims to produce about 85 crore quality fish seeds.
In a bid to boost the fish production in the state, the secretary said emphasis is being given on the setting up of multi-purpose farm tanks through the job card holders under the labour-intensive Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). The government has targeted to set up around 15,000 tanks, where the beneficiaries would get Rs 1.50 lakh subsidy.
The subsidy would be provided to the small and marginal farmers, who have less than five acres of land and also hold job cards under the MGNREGS.
The beneficiary would have to develop the pond in half acres on his own land to avail the subsidy.
