To lend much needed helping hand to the farmers associated with the fish farming, the State Government has resuscitated the various ‘Fish Seed Farms’ with the cost of Rs. 24.65 crore.Disclosing this, Balbir Singh Sidhu Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development & Fisheries Minister said that the motive behind this exercise is to encourage the farmers to opt for fish farming under the agricultural diversification programme of Congress Government. He said that the initiative of the Government in this direction has borne fruits as 3449.23 acres of additional area has been brought under fish farming in the year 2017-18 whereas 35882.49 acres of existing area under fish farming is remained intact.The Minister said that with the proactive efforts of the fishery department, 137309 tonne of fish was produced in the state in year 2017-18. He said that with this achievement the state has now emerged as one of the leading states of India in the field of fish farming.
He said that a state of the art ‘Fish Brood Bank’ would soon be established in the state to produce high quality fish seed with scientific techniques. Similarly a new Government Fish Seed Farm is also being established at village Alisher Khurd in District Mansa.He said that the farmers of Punjab are so enthusiastic to adopt fish farming, so the Government has been conducting training session throughout the year across the State to train the farmers on the scientific techniques of fish farming. He said that 6324 persons have been imparted training in year 2017-18 and Fishery department helped the farmers to get loans worth Rs. 4,51 crore from banks.Mr. Balbir Singh Sidhu further said that 5 ‘State of the Art Laboratories’ are being set up in the state to diagnose diseases and maintain quality of water in the fish ponds so that fish farming can be progressed on scientific lines.