Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu: Carp fish production up in Himachal so is farmers’ income

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today said that the carp fish production in Himachal Pradesh had increased from 6,767.11 metric tonnes last year to 7,367.03 metric tonnes this year.

Sukhu, in a statement issued here, said that around 2,600 fishermen were at present involved in carp farming and the rise in production was leading to a steady increase in their income. “The state government is providing high-quality fish seeds to fishermen. There are seven government-run carp fish farms in the state,” he added.

He said, “In May 2024, the department had procured improved Amur carp seeds from the National Freshwater Fish Brood Bank, Bhubaneswar. These seeds are being used to develop brood stock at the fish seed farms located at Nalagarh in Solan district and Gagret in Una district.” He added that these seeds would provide a 20 per cent higher growth compared to traditional species, raising the income of farmers.

Sukhu said that in June 2024, the department had signed an MoU with the Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Bhubaneswar. Under the agreement, advanced seeds of Jayanti Rohu and Amrit Katla species had been made available. He added that brood stock for these species was being developed at the Fish Seed Farm at Nalagarh and advanced seeds were expected to be made available to farmers in next two years. These species had a 20 per cent to 25 per cent higher growth rate than traditional varieties and possessed greater disease resistance.

He said, “For better farmer training, the Fisheries Department has set up a state-of-the-art training centre at Gagret in Una district at a cost of Rs 5 crore. A carp fish brood bank will be established at the Nalagarh farm in the near future.”

The Chief Minister said that to promote fish farming, the state government was providing an 80 per cent subsidy for the construction of ponds. So far, Rs 1.38 crore had been released for the construction of ponds over 14 hectares for the farmers of the general category and Rs 59.52 lakh would soon be disbursed for the construction of ponds over six hectares for the farmers belonging to the SC/ST categories, he added.

Sukhu said that this scheme was being implemented in Bilaspur, Mandi, Hamirpur, Kangra, Solan, Sirmaur, Chamba and Una. The main fish species reared in these ponds included Rohu, Katla, Mrigal, Common Carp and Grass Carp, all of which have a high market value.

CM to visit Dodra Kawar on Oct 26

• To understand the grievances of the people and redress them, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu will be visiting far-flung villages in Dodra Kawar of Rohru in Shimla district on October 26
• The visit comes under the ‘Vyavastha Parivartan’ initiative to head towards villages and remote rural belts of Himachal to understand the problems of people, says Sukhu
• Similar directions have been issued to all ministers to visit rural hamlets of their areas, solve public grievances on the spot, share information about development schemes and programmes so that villagers could take their benefit
• The initiative will help the state government get feedback regarding the performance of its officers posted in these regions
• This initiative will help solve the grievances of people living in far-flung areas who face several hardships, says Shankar Chauhan, Pradhan Temple Committee, Kwar