Bhubaneswar: Aiming at the creation of additional 2,200 hectares of fresh aquaculture farming Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Monday launched a new scheme-‘Fish Pond Yojana’ here at a special programme.
“This new state plan scheme has been introduced with a budget provision of `96 crore which will facilitate creation of additional 2,200 hectares of fresh aquaculture farming with 50 per cent financial assistance to farmers,” said Naveen, while attending a workshop on ‘Doubling of Farmers Income through Dairy and Allied Farming Practices’.
The Chief Minister said that he expected an active participation of women self-help groups (SHGs) and fisheries’ cooperatives in taking advantages of various schemes launched by his government.
Patnaik also dedicated an animal ambulance service in the Berhampur and Cuttack urban areas with a budgetary provision of `1 crore to provide for emergency assistance to sick and injured animals.
“As per the latest survey of Government of India, Orissa is the only state in the country to have doubled farmers’ income in real terms over a decade,” he said.
The contribution from fisheries and livestock sectors was reported to have had a 33.35 times increase during this period. Stating that livestock and fisheries sectors played an important role in developing the rural economy of the state the Chief Minister said, “These sectors have a tremendous relevance to the livelihood of small and marginal farmers who derive a substantial part of their income from the sale of milk, meat, egg and fish.”
Due to persistent and novel initiatives taken by the state government, the annual fish production in the state has increased from 2.60 lakh tonnes to more than 6 lakh tonnes in the last 17 years, the Chief Minister pointed out.
Similarly, per day milk production has seen a quantum jump from 24 lakh litres in 2000 to 54 lakh litres now,” he informed. The egg production has also seen a growth of more than 2.5 times, he added.
Various services in the fisheries sector are being made online and appointment letters have been given to 232 technical persons, including 56 veterinary assistant surgeons, 158 livestock inspectors and 18 junior fisheries technical assistants, sources said. Among others, fisheries and animal resources development minister Damodar Rout, Bhubaneswar MP Prasanna Patasani, fisheries secretary V Gagan and vice chancellor of Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) S Pasupalak spoke on the occasion.
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