In a bid to transform the destiny of farmers of the south western parts of the state by promoting pisciculture in this region, the Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today gave nod for setting up a Research and Development (R&D) centre near Malout for encouraging the cultivation of 'Shrimp' (Jhinga) fish in a big way.Interacting with a delegation of progressive fish farmers, which called on him at his residence this morning, the Chief Minister said that the ‘Blue Revolution’ in the state could transform the destiny of farmers. He said that the unprecedented success of the Shrimp variety of fish in the two districts of Sri Muktsar Sahib and Fazilka, which were having brackish water, have proved that it was having a huge potential in these two districts. Mr. Badal said that the alliance government was making all out efforts for promoting fish farming in the state.The Chief Minister said that Punjab had pioneered ‘Green Revolution’ in the country, which was instrumental in providing food security to the country.
However, he said that with escalating input costs and squeezing margins of profit agriculture was no longer a profitable venture due to which the farmers of the state were on the brink of economic crisis. Mr. Badal said that in such a dismal scenario pisciculture was the only ray of hope for the farmers as they could supplement their income through it.The Chief Minister said that the state government would set up a dedicated fund for running this centre efficaciously. He asked the GADVASU to prepare the Detailed Project Report for setting up this centre at the earliest. Mr. Badal envisioned that this would be revolutionary step that could play a pivotal role changing the fortunes of the farmers.The Chief Minister reiterated that the state government was giving a subsidy of 50% on equipments, feed and seed to give further boost to the production of shrimp across the state.
Mr. Badal assured the visiting delegation that the state government would provide fulsome support and cooperation to the farmers for this noble venture. He also impressed upon the Fisheries department to send a delegation of progressive farmers from the state to Andhra Pradesh to update their knowledge about the latest techniques of shrimp production.Prominent amongst others who were present in the meeting included; Additional Chief Secretary (Animal Husbandry, Dairy & Fisheries) Mr. Mandeep Singh Sandhu, Special Principal Secretaries to Chief Minister Mr. Gaggandip Singh Brar and Dr. S. Karunaraju, Advisor Animal Husbandry Dr. BK Uppal, Director Animal Husbandary Dr HS Sandha and Commissioner Agriculture Dr. Balwinder Singh Sidhu.