Kotpad: Abrupt closure of a fish seed production centre here in Koraput district has hit hard prospective fish farmers in the area, a report said.
As a result, they have to depend on neighbouring Chhattisgarh or outside of the district to procure their quotas of seeds for fish farming.
In the absence of any alternative, many people who regularly carry out fish cultivation have switched to cultivation of paddy, maize, millets and various pulses due to unavailability of the seeds.
This has happened as the lone fish seeds production centre in the area lay closed for several years. The centre has been locked up and lying in a shabby condition. The authorities have also forgotten to take up its maintenance.
Sources said that the fish production centre produced quality fish seeds and supplied them as per requirement at subsidized prices through a tender process. However, the centre was soon closed down due to various reasons.
According to reports, each panchayat under Kotpad block has one to two ponds which are used for fish cultivation by villagers. Fingerlings and fish seeds are released into the pond and harvested after they grow up.
However, the closure of the centre has put the farmers in a fix. The government-owned centre has stopped providing seeds to panchayats even though ponds are auctioned every year for fish cultivation.
Villagers demanded that the district administration intervene and make the centre functional so that they could get quality seeds at subsidised price.
A senior official of the department said a proposal for renovation of the centre has been sent to the state government for its approval. It will be renovated after the state government gives its approval for reopening the centre.
Fisheries officer Rashmita Sahani tried to ward off a question on closure of the centre stating that the district fisheries officer can better explain why the fish production centre was closed down.
PNN
