Nirmal sees steady growth in fish production
The good rainfall registered this monsoon and the brimming reservoirs and irrigation projects contributed to the development of the sector
Nirmal: Nirmal district is showing steady growth in fish production for the past few years, with the State government extending a slew of schemes for the welfare of the fishermen community. The good rainfall registered this monsoon and the brimming reservoirs and irrigation projects contributed to the development of the sector.
The government’s move to encourage traditional occupations has helped Nirmal to tap the potential of the fisheries sector. Supply of fingerlings at subsidised prices to cooperative societies of fishermen, provision of vehicles to transport the fish catch and other schemes resulted in the fishermen, who were in the past forced to migrate to cities, to continue in the field.
According to information provided by authorities, Nirmal district registered over 14,000 tonnes of fish production this year as against the target 16,000 metric tonnes, indicating achievement of over 80 per cent. It had recorded 13,050 metric tonnes of output in 2019 and 9,000 metric tonnes of production in 2018. It witnessed a significant increase over the past three years.
Incidentally, Nirmal is endowed with five reservoirs, 151 medium and 471 minor irrigation tanks where fishlings and prawns are raised. The reservoirs include Sri Ram Sagar Project, Kaddam Narayan Reddy Project, Swarna project, Suddawagu or Gaddenna project and Palsikar Rangarao project or Chinna Suddavagu project.
“Arrangements are being made for releasing 4.99 crore fishlings in 672 irrigation projects including seven projects on August 20. Fingerlings measuring somewhere between 25 and 40 mm would be dropped in irrigation tanks and those measuring anywhere between 80 mm and 100 mm were going to be raised in medium irrigation projects, District Fisheries Officer Bandari Devender told ‘Telangana Today.’
For the first time, the authorities of the Fisheries Department would track the growth of fishlings and implementation of various schemes, by geo-tagging units with Global Position System (GPS). Both officials concerned and fishermen hope that the availability of water in irrigation projects and tanks would help in seeing a higher yield than previous years.
As part of the Fisheries Development programme, 4.41 crore fingerlings were dropped in these water bodies in 2019, helping the fishermen achieve financial empowerment. A total of 4.05 crore and 3.59 crore fingerlings were released into these reservoirs and irrigation tanks in 2018 and 17. A sum of 85.51 lakh shrimps was dropped in the five water bodies.
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