Patna: Bihar has caught up with the national fish productivity level and the state now boasts of having a three metric tonne per hectare productivity. This feat could be achieved owing to 14 per cent increase in fish production in the state in 2017-18.
According to the figures compiled by the state fisheries directorate, which works under the aegis of the animal and fisheries resources department, the state produced 5.87 lakh metric tonnes of fish in 2017-18, which was almost 14 per cent more than the production level of the previous fiscal. The state had produced 5.10 lakh metric tonnes of fish in 2016-17.
"In fact, 2017-18 is special for us because we not only achieved the national average of fish productivity this year, but also we crossed our own target of producing 5.50 lakh metric tonnes of fish in the year," a senior official of the state fisheries directorate told The Telegraph.
Buoyed by the achievement of 2017-18, the animal and fisheries resources department is now thinking of effecting an upward revision of fish production target during 2018-19.
"Earlier, we had set the target of producing 6 lakh metric tonnes of fish in 2018-19. But now we are working out the possibilities if this could be scaled up to 6.5 lakh metric tonnes or not. A decision will be taken shortly after taking various factors into account," said a senior official of the department.
If this upward revision takes place and the desired target is achieved, Bihar could hope to achieve self-reliance in fish production by the end of 2018-19. At present, the state which boasts of 93,000 hectares of ponds, 9,000 hectares of oxbow lakes, 9.41 lakh hectares of chaur (low) land, which remain submerged in water for six to seven months a year, 26,000 hectares of reservoir and 3,200km of rivers, still depends on fish supply from other states because it has still not achieved the production level of 6.42 lakh metric tonnes of fish production which also happens to be its annual demand.
"The 6.5 lakh metric tonnes production level is achievable provided the state government comes up with some scheme which would encourage wide-scale use of fish feed which is a must for scripting a turnaround in the fisheries sector," said the official.
Kirti Sahni, a progressive fish farmer from Sitamarhi district, echoed the official's view and said: "Fish feed worth Rs 75,000 will be needed annually to run fisheries in one hectare of water body. The state must pay half the input cost to fish farmers to encourage use of the food, which could help enhance the productivity in a big way."