Demand for freshwater fish increase noticed

Mangalore Today News Network

Puttur, July 12, 2018: Krishi Vigyan Kendra (Mangaluru) Head Dr Shivakumar Magada said there is a demand for 90,000 crore fingerlings in Karnataka and only 40,000 crore fingerlings are produced.

 

If the fingerlings are reared for 40 to 50 days, then farmers can generate additional income, he said at a district-level Fish Farmers’ Day programme organised in the house of Puttur APMC President Boodiyar Radhakrishna Rai, a resident of Boodiyar in Puttur taluk.

He said that the fish production in the country is 11.6 lakh tonne. In this, 7.6 lakh tonne comes from fresh water. There is a demand for freshwater fish, he added.

Compared to expenditure incurred to cultivate areca nut, coconut, pepper and sugarcane, the expenditure for pisciculture is less, he felt.

Along with dairy farming, rearing chicken, and piggery, farmers can take up pisciculture. Through “smart farming,” the farmers can achieve self-sufficiency and increase their income.

There are 80 species of fish in rivers in Malnad and the Western Ghats. In this, 30 to 40 species can be reared. “There is a wrong notion that freshwater fish is tasteless. There is no problem of fat from freshwater fish. The fish has all the vitamins required,” he explained.

Zilla Panchayat President Meenakshi Shanthigodu said the farmers can take up pisciculture as there is good demand for delicacies made of fish.