Significant increase in carp fish farming in Himachal Pradesh: Chief Minister

Shimla, October 23: Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu informed that carp fish production in Himachal Pradesh has increased to 7,367.03 metric tonnes as compared to 6,767.11 metric tonnes last year. He said that at present about 2600 fishermen are doing carp fish farming and their economy is getting strengthened due to increase in production. The Chief Minister said that the present state government is providing high quality fish seeds to the fishermen and seven government carp fish farms have been established in the state. The State Fisheries Department is taking several steps to provide high quality fish seeds to the farmers.

He said that in May, 2024, the department has purchased improved Amur carp seeds from National Freshwater Fish Brood Bank, Bhubaneswar. These seeds are being used to develop brood stocks at Fish Seed Farm, Nalagarh, Solan district and Gagret Fish Seed Farm, Una district. From next year, high quality seeds of these farms will be available to farmers. Their production rate is 20 percent higher than traditional species, which will increase the income of farmers.

Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the state government has signed MoUs with Central Freshwater Aquaculture Research Institute, Bhubaneswar in June 2024. Under this MoU, improved variety seeds of Jayanti Rohu and Amrit Katla species have been made available. Brood stocks of these species are being developed at Fish Seed Farm, Nalagarh and improved seeds will be made available to farmers within the next two years. The growth rate of these species is 20-25 percent higher than traditional varieties and they also have higher disease resistance.

To provide better training to the farmers, the Fisheries Department has set up a modern training centre at Gagret in Una district at a cost of Rs 5 crore. Besides this, the department will soon set up a Carp Fish Brood Bank at Nalagarh in Solan district. The Chief Minister said that the State Government is giving up to 80 per cent subsidy to farmers for pond construction to promote fish farming. He said that so far Rs 1.38 crore has been released to farmers of general category for pond construction in 14 hectares area.

Apart from this, an additional amount of Rs 59.52 lakh will soon be released to farmers of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe category for pond construction in an area of ​​more than six hectares. Under this scheme, farmers can build ponds on a maximum of one hectare of land, in which the size of the pond will be minimum 500 square metres. He said that there is a provision of a grant of Rs 49,600 for construction of 500 square metres pond and Rs 9.92 lakh for construction of one hectare pond.

Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that this scheme is being implemented in eight districts of the state namely Bilaspur, Mandi, Hamirpur, Kangra, Solan, Sirmaur, Chamba and Una. Rohu, Katla, Mrigal, Common Carp and Grass Carp are being reared in these ponds, whose market value is higher than other species. He said that fishermen can earn a profit of Rs 10.50 lakh by rearing fish in one hectare pond, while even the smallest unit of 500 square meters can give economic benefits up to Rs 50,000.