Infra fund to give a fillip to fisheries sector

NABARD, banks, govt. agencies to be involved in ₹ 7,500-cr. plan

July 10, 2018 01:13 am | Updated 01:13 am IST - VISAKHAPATNAM

E. Ramesh Kumar, Joint Secretary (Fisheries), Union Ministry of Agriculture, visiting a stall set up as a part of Fish Farmers' Day celebrations,  in Visakhapatnam on Monday.

E. Ramesh Kumar, Joint Secretary (Fisheries), Union Ministry of Agriculture, visiting a stall set up as a part of Fish Farmers' Day celebrations, in Visakhapatnam on Monday.

To give a fillip to the fisheries sector the Union government is contemplating setting up a fisheries infrastructure development fund, as part of the blue revolution project.

This is being worked out to support individuals, entrepreneurs, consortia and other stake-holders, from the sector, E. Ramesh Kumar, Joint Secretary (Fisheries) in the Union Ministry of Agriculture, said here on Monday.He was delivering the inaugural address at the National Fish Farmers' Day being observed by the National Fisheries Development Board.

Giving more details on the fund arrangements, he said NABARD, the scheduled banks and other government agencies would be involved in implementing the plan and about ₹ 7,500 crore is likely to be set apart for the fund.

"Entrepreneurs and others in the fisheries sector can get finance at 6 % rate of interest for infra projects and the repayment period will be 12 years, with a moratorium of two years," he said.

Apart from speaking about welfare schemes for fishermen such as bio-metric cards and safety aspects he said plans afoot to convert fishing trawlers into tuna long-liners to encourage deep-sea fishing and Visakhapatnam could emerge a major hub for tuna fishing.

Speaking about fish production, Mr. Ramesh said at present the production is around 12 MMT and the target is to achieve 15 MMT by 2021. Referring to the use of antibiotics in fish and shrimp culture and how some of the shrimp consignments from Andhra Pradesh were rejected in the western markets due to residues.

Campaign

He said a concerted campaign should be taken up to educate farmers and others in the sector on the harmful effects of antibiotics and chemicals in culture and preservation of fish. “The presence of formalin in the fish, found in the Chennai markets, was a matter of concern,” he said.

Acquiescing with Mr. Ramesh, U. Viswanadha Raju, chairman of the Bhimavaram-based Ananda group, one of the leading shrimp exporters from AP, said a sustained campaign should be taken up by the media against the use of chemicals in fish and shrimp culture.

He also said efforts must be taken up jointly to beat China that occupies number one position in fish production in the world. India is ranked second.

AP Fisheries Commissioner Ram Shankar Naik said insurance cover should be provided to fish farmers.

I. Rani Kumudini, CEO of the NFDB, spoke about the activities of the board to promote fisheries. Eighteen distinguished persons in the sector, including fish and shrimp farmers, entrepreneurs and others, would be felicitated on Tuesday by the NFDB, she added.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.