The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Rangpur

Over 350 tonnes additional production of sweet water fish is expected this year in greater Rangpur following massive steps taken last year by the government and the Armed Forces to drastically cut poverty through fish-farming. An integrated fish farming project titled "Ensuring Food Security and Poverty Alleviation in Poverty-prone Greater Rangpur" of the government at a cost of about Taka 12 crore and initiatives of the Armed Forces contributed a lot to the directions, officials said on Saturday.

The Department of Fisheries (DF) in collaboration with NGOs has been implementing the project for ensuring food security and poverty alleviation through fish farming and creating jobs for the hardcore poor and unemployed youths in the Monga-prone greater Rangpur.

Experts of the Parbotipur Sweetwater Fish Farming Sub-Centre with the assistances of DF and Bangladesh Fish Research Institute conducted last year integrated training courses for unemployed youths and farmers to increase fish production by providing the farmers the latest technologies.

Fish farming got momentum following huge motivational activities conducted by the concerned departments and Army during the Fish Fortnight for preserving indigenous species of fish and boosting production of all varieties of fish in the prospective area, officials said.

Besides, the initiatives, including providing financial supports and fish fries to the farmers, taken by the Armed Forces for cultivating fish in the 95-kilometre long huge canal of the Teesta Barrage Project (TBP), have ushered in new era in the pisciculture sector.

DF officials said, the 3-year project was launched last year to boost the pisciculture sector through increased farming of all variety fishes in the available water bodies, crop fields and floodplains in these five Monga- prone districts.

Renovation, re-excavation, digging, construction of necessary infrastructures and other works of hundreds of abandoned, derelict and hyacinth water bodies including ponds, beels, haors, dried up river beds at suitable places and raising of embankments are still continuing.

Most of the water bodies and huge canals of the TBP have been handed over after completion of the massive development works, to the targeted groups, societies and fishermen community people for achieving targeted success in the sector, officials said.

The farmers, fishermen, unemployed youths and poorer people have been provided with adequate training and necessary inputs to help them in operating a comprehensive and integrated pisciculture activity under a sustainable and proper management system under the project.

They were also educated on the latest technologies for pisciculture for properly releasing fish fry and fingerlings into the water bodies and nurturing them through systematic feeding and their harvest, transportation and marketing system.