Cashing in on popularity of Murrel in Telangana

State government sets up Centre of Excellence for breeding, seed production at Wyra in Khammam.

Hyderabad: The State Fisheries Department is now focusing on extensive farming of Murrel (Korra Meenu), Telangana’s State fish, in order to cut down the consumption of hybrid species and promote indigenous species.

To this effect, the department has set up a Centre of Excellence at Wyra in Khammam for breeding and seed production. Since July, breeding activity has commenced at the centre and measures are being taken to train farmers in Murrel farming. The idea was to promote entrepreneurship among farmers.

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Considering the people’s liking for Murrel in the State and the remunerative price it fetches farmers, the department was taking measures to conduct free training programmes for Murrel farming at the Centre of Excellence, Fisheries Commissioner Lachiram Bhukya said.

The three-four-day training would focus on practical work and teach farmers how to cultivate Murrel and supply the stock across the State, he said. The Centre of Excellence has been set up in four acres and the training sessions would commence in July next year, during the off-season. Farmers are usually busy during the harvest season from January to August, he said.

Despite being the State fish, there was no scientific breeding concept and farmers practised natural breeding. Since Murrels are known for gustatory cannibalism, many farmers tend to avoid breeding them on a large scale, especially due to high-input costs. To help farmers adopt scientific breeding practices, the Fisheries Department now plans to conduct training sessions.

In addition to this, as there is a high demand for Murrel in the market, many private farms were supplying hybrid varieties. Mostly, the hybrid varieties were being supplied from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and a few farms in Nalgonda.