The Fish Farm at Agarapettai on Kallanai-Thanjavur Road has been catering to the needs of fish breeders, temple tanks and multi-purpose farm ponds.
The farm, spread over a sprawling area of one hectare, has seven nursery ponds each with a capacity of hatching one lakh hatchlings brought from the Seed Production Centre at Karanthai in Thanjavur.
“There has been a growing demand for the fishes particularly after setting up of the multi-purpose farm ponds and revival of old tanks under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme”, official sources told The Hindu on Thursday.
Four varieties of fishes – ‘catla’, ‘rohu’, ‘mrigal’ and ‘’common carp’ are hatched here. While the first three varieties could be hatched between July and September, the common variety is hatched round the year. The price is Rs.252 per 1,000 fishes for the three varieties and Rs.162 for the common carp. “The farm has been handling seven lakh fishes – the target fixed for the year,” the source said.
The farm makes arrangement for safe despatch of the fishes. Fishes are bundled in oxygen-filled bags and the fishes can survive for 12 hours, to be let out into farm ponds or temple tanks.
“A large number of farmers from Nagapattinam, Tiruchi, Ariyalur and Perambalur are the largest beneficiaries of the farm. As the prices are less, the farmers prefer to purchase the breeder fishes here,” the source said. Ensuring safety and hygiene, no feed from outsiders is utilised.
The farm originally was built on earthern ponds but it had been developed into concrete ponds using NABARD funds.
