Minister of Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries Ch. Adinarayana Reddy sought the cooperation of aquaculture businessmen and farmers in the coastal districts for giving a fillip to the nascent aqua and fisheries sector in Rayalaseema.
He said that water availability in the parched region has improved due to the linking of Godavari and Krishna rivers and the costs of land and labour were far below the prevailing rates in the relatively rich agrarian districts of Krishna, Guntur and the West and East Godavari.
“Those days when people used to indulge in factionalism have gone. We have hard-working people and the conditions for inland aquaculture are more conducive than before. The government will extend all possible assistance to those coming forward to set up aqua farms and industries,” he said.
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Contribution to GSDP
Inaugurating a national conference and exhibition on fisheries titled Aquabiz-2017 jointly organised by the Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) Department of Fisheries and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here on Friday, Mr. Adinarayana Reddy said the contribution of aquaculture to the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in a year was way ahead of agriculture, yielding a net income of about 20 % (₹13,000 crore) of the total business of ₹65,000 crore to the government compared to up to ₹4,800 crore on agriculture production worth about ₹45,000 crore to ₹48,000 crore.
The Minister said the State’s 974 kilometre – long coastline offered tremendous opportunity for doing marine fisheries. Efforts were being made to realise the full potential of the aquaculture sector as a whole given the advantage Andhra Pradesh enjoyed over the landlocked States like Telangana.
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He insisted that pollution should be kept under check in the aquaculture sector to not only protect the environment but also attract foreign buyers. Besides, greenery should be raised around the aqua farms as part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.
CII-A.P. Chairman J.S.R.K. Prasad said fisheries and aquaculture were playing a significant role in providing employment, reducing poverty and promoting health.
Fish was a vital source of protein and essential nutrients, he observed and added that sustainable fisheries could generate lasting benefits for nutritional security and economic growth while efforts were made to adhere to good aquaculture practices. Zilla Parishad Chairperson Gadde Anuradha and Commissioner of Fisheries Rama Sankar Naik were among those present.