Catch of the season

There’s something fishy in the farms of Punjab. Funnily enough...

There’s something fishy in the farms of Punjab. Funnily enough, it smells good. It’s pisciculture and it’s fast catching up as a big alternative source of livelihood among the state’s farmers.

The steep rise in the demand for fish due to the change in dietary habits and the large influx of migrant population has had the state’s farmers taking to fish farming. This has also resulted in a shift from the two-crop pattern comprising wheat and paddy which is largely taken up in this agrarian state.

In a much needed impetus to pisciculture, the state Fisheries Department is providing at least 6 million fish seeds to farmers every year, including seeds of Grass Carp, Silver Carp, Big Head Carp and Gulfam, to promote crop diversification. The Ludhiana-based Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) is also providing special training through training programmes to small and marginal farmers.

According to the Fisheries Department, currently nearly 9,890 hectare area is under fish culture, with an average productivity of 6.09 tonnes per hectare. The area is 10 per cent more than last year and expected to yield in a high production next year, said B.B. Sharma, Assistant Director, Punjab Fisheries Department.

In fact, the state’s productivity is higher compared to the national figure of 2.6 tonnes per hectare. Despite this, say experts, there is an immense scope to boost fish production by introducing appropriate technologies and practices with special programmes and support base for farmers.

“Most farmers are taking up pisiculture along with traditional farming, owing to the high returns and low input costs in fish farming,” said Sukhdeep Singh Bajwa, a fish farmer at Quadian in Gurdaspur, who said farm fish is more in demand because the pollution in rivers has led to a decline in their numbers. So recently he has added two more hectares to his eight-hectare fish farm.

“Once the pond is ready, the investment is not much. And due to the rising demand, there is no problem in marketing as well. The migrant population from east Bihar, West Bengal and Orissa is leading to the rise in demand,” said Amarjit Singh, another farmer, adding that the market is booming due to the change in dietary habits following the economic boom, with people preferring high-protein food. While 30-35 quintals per acre is a good fish yield, Amarjit Singh once had a maximum yield of 50 quintals per acre. “But for this you need better technology, special varieties of fish and protection from diseases,” he said.

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The local market fetches Rs 45-50 for 1 kg of fish harvested from the farm. “Marketing is not a problem as the fishermen come with their teams, collect the fish using their nets and give cash on the spot, whereas for other crops one has to take it to the market and then wait for the buyers,” said Kuldeep Singh, a fish farmer at Padhari Kalan village, whose six acres of farm is giving him good dividend.

“With an initial investment of Rs 40,000, which excludes the land’s cost, a farmer can earn double the amount in a year,” he said. Besides the land, one needs Rs 10,000-20,000 initially, and with the seed, water and other expenditure, the investment goes up to Rs 40,000, said Kuldeep Singh.

India is only second to China in farm fish production, with an output of 2.47 million tonnes of fish last year and higher yield expected this year. The fish is exported to Japan, United Arab Emirates, United States and even European Union, besides Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Singapore, China and Malaysia.