New Delhi: The Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Giriraj Singh inaugurated the celebrations of World Fisheries Day, 2019 at NASC Complex, PUSA, New Delhi.The Ministers of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Dr Sanjeev Balyan and Pratap Chandra Sarangi also graced the occasion as Guests of Honour. During the event, the Ministers felicitated outstanding fish farmers, aquapreneurs and fisher folks in recognition to their accomplishments in the field and for their contribution into the growth of the sector.
Addressing the august gathering, Union Minister Giriraj Singh said that Farmers and Fishermen are doing their best and attempting various means and ways to make progress in their respective fields. Singh said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has put his faith on all of them and has made a separate Ministry for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying to ensure that all possible help and favourable policies are formulated for their benefit. Singh said that there are lots of opportunities in India and that his goal is to ensure that what was not accomplished in the past 70 years is accomplished in 10 years with the help of all farmers and fishermen.
Taking the example of Punjab Singh said that Saline water which is considered a problem in most States can be turned into a potential gold mine for farmers and fishermen using shrimps. He said 13000 farmers have converted their boats through mechanisation for better fishing and a Pilot project on 300 boats in Tamil Nadu is being undertaken to check its efficacy. He further said that Cage culture should be adopted in places where ocean/sea is unstable. Singh also said that there is a huge scope for brackish water fishing with good export potential and the Department is making strategy to tap this potential. He also said that the Department will make schemes for training and give field experience/exposure and share best practices among all fishermen.
Union Minister Giriraj Singh stated that following up on Lal Bahadur Shastri’s motto of Jai Jawan, Jai Kisaan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given the motto of Jai Jawan,Jai Kisaan and Jai Vigyaan which exhorts using technology for the betterment of the entire nation. The Minister said that we have the technology that can give same productivity in one tenth area using RAS technology and that needs to be taken down to the grassroots and implemented. He also said that Cage culture is tested and proven effective for fishing in reservoirs and fishermen need to use this technique more. He further added that Post harvesting losses were 30% earlier but now they have been reduced to 25%and the target is to bring it to 10% in the coming years. He exhorted that work should be done on identifying those fish breeds that have a good export market and ICAR has taken out 61 varieties of fishes which can be exported and Breeder to market approach will be followed and Cluster projects should be formed. After giving the Awards, Singh said that the Department will increase the award amount to promote best practices even further as no other sector can give a rate of profit like the fishing sector.
The Minister of State Sanjeev Kumar Balyan said that a Ministers’ role is to take needs and demands of the people to the bureaucracy and act as a bridge between the masses and the officials to ensure that there is a two-way communication between them and work is done for the betterment of masses. Balyan said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of doubling Farmers’ Income can only be fulfilled with promotion of Allied activities such as Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fishing. Balyan exhorted the National Fisheries Development Board to work more in North India and bring out best practices for the fishing community of the entire country.
