In a bid to promote fish farming across the state in a big way, the Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has impressed upon his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Mr. Chandra Babu Naidu to depute a team of experts for visiting the state and advice the Punjab government on the matter pertaining to fish hatcheries, fish rearing and post harvest technology.In a letter to Mr. Naidu, the Chief Minister, while lauding the role of Andhra Pradesh in Fish farming, termed it as one of most evolved states in fish production. He apprised the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister that Punjab was one of the foremost states in fisheries with highest per hectare fish production adding that the state government has recently launched a pilot project of raising modern fish farms over an area of 600 acres. Badal said that these would act both as a model as well as demonstration farm for prospective fish farmers.
Envisaging the whole hearted support and cooperation of the Andhra Pradesh Government in ushering in an era of blue revolution in the state, the Chief Minister said that Punjab would be immensely benefitted from the vital support of Andhra Pradesh in harnessing the biggest potential from this sector.Pertinently, with the traditional agriculture in the state reaching a stage of plateau, the Chief Minister has laid special focus on the perfsication of agriculture through promotion of allied sectors like Dairy and Fishery. Mr. Badal has been focusing on the development of Fisheries particularly in the waterlogged districts of south western Punjab, where the presence of brackish water had been adversely affecting the prospects of agricultural production, for supplementing the income of the farmers of the state. In order to encourage fishery in the state, he has recently announced to enhance the subsidy from 40 to 50 percent for setting up new fish farms in the state.