With the aim of promoting shrimp farming in unused saline-affected waterlogged land in the state and increasing area under shrimp farming to 5,000 acres within next five years, the Punjab Government has organized the State Level Shrimp Farming Seminar at Demonstration Farm-cum-Training Centre at village Ena khera of district Sri Muktsar Sahib.
While addressing this one-day seminar, organized by the Department of Fisheries under the patronage of Cabinet Minister S. Laljit Singh Bhullar and in collaboration with the Punjab State Fisheries Development Board, Director and Warden Fisheries Department Mr. Jasvir Singh informed, in the year 2022-23, as many as 366 farmers are cultivating shrimp in around 1212 acres with a total production of about 2400 tonnes of shrimp.
The shrimp farming is being practised on saline affected waterlogged zero income land in Punjab, which has proved successful in increasing the income of the farmers, said the director adding that shrimp and fish farmers are getting income up to Rs.3 lakh from one acre of land, but due to the high production of shrimp at the international level, the rate of shrimp has been decreased this year. Hence, there is a need to develop local market to sell shrimp crop, he emphasized.
He said that for utilization of waste saline affected waterlogged land, the shrimp farming is a very profitable agro-auxiliary occupation. And, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led government was paying special attention to this sector and drawn up a strategy to bring 5,000 acres of the border districts under shrimp farming during next five years. To hit this target and understand the problems faced in promoting shrimp farming in the state and find a solution to it, the department has organized seminar, which was attended by more than 350 farmers and traders.
Apart from this, 17 exhibition stalls of products related to shrimp farming such as feed, fertilizers, probiotics, aerators, value added products like shrimp pickle etc, animal husbandry, fish farming, dairy department, solar power plant were installed.
Chief guest MLA Lambi S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian and Chairman of District Planning Board Mr. Sukhjinder Singh urged the farmers to bring maximum area under fish/shrimp farming, set up cold storage and processing plants by taking advantage of the department schemes.
S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian assured the farmers that the Punjab government is trying to resolve the problems being faced by the farmers during shrimp farming. He said that the government will explore possibilities of local market to sell shrimp crop.
He said that Mann government is providing 40 to 60 percent subsidy for adopting aqua-culture and 40 percent subsidy is being provided for general category and 60 percent subsidy is being given to SC/ST/women and their self-help groups.
He said that financial assistance for adopting aqua culture, purchasing transport vehicles such as bicycle, motorcycle, auto-rickshaw, insulated and refrigerated vehicle for the transportation of fish, is being provided, and farmers should take maximum benefit of these schemes to increase their income.
Deputy Commissioner Mr. Vineet Kumar assured that district administration would provide support to set up an on-grid solar power plant as a solution to the electricity problems faced by the shrimp farmers.
He urged the MLA to bring shrimp farming under the agricultural institution. Experts and scientists from Guru Angad Dev Veterinary University Ludhiana and other institutes providing technical support in the field shared their ideas regarding new research in shrimp farming sector.
The chief guests released the departmental training manual related to shrimp farming and honoured progressive farmers of the district. The prominent who attended the seminar included; the Director Dairy S. Kuldeep Singh Jassowal, SDM Mr. Kanwarjit Singh and Assistant Director Fisheries Mr. Kewal Krishan.