The secretary of the department of fisheries, Dr. Abhilaksh Likhi, went to Getalsud Dam in Ranchi, Jharkhand, to check the progress of cage farming, a cooperative effort of the Jharkhand department of fisheries. Getalshod Reservoir is a lively and active base for cage culture, specializing in Pangasius and Tilapia. Some 16 villages have been in operation through close collaboration with the fish farmers, using RCC pipes and modular cages.
The results have been quite thrilling: an average of 3–4 tons per cage and more than Rs. 95 lakh annually. earning 4 lakhs annually in profit. A surge in capacity-building programs such as Blue Revolution, RKVY, and PMMSY has seen the rise of cage culture in 2012–13, with 365 cages upstream. Also, there is a special allocation for reservoir stocking with around 25 lakh fingerlings annually, which has further improved the fish population. With thorough networks in marketing, products are established, allowing fish to be sold at Rs. 120.
The European Union is actively promoting the principles of fair competition and transparency in business decisions to maintain a level playing field amongst its trading partners and reduce the risk of carbon leakage. Dr. Abhilaksh Likhi not only had conversations with cage fish farmers but also urged them toward adopting the vast unutilized features of the reservoir, which was assessed to be about 32 lakh hectares. These types of flagship projects incorporating the CSS on Blue Revolution and PMMSY have been one of the key investments that have highly influenced aquaculture farming and its development. The latter saw the sanction of 14022 cages, which aggregated to be worth Rs. While the one at Rewa cost Rs. 420 crores, the Vidarbha plant undertook an investment of Rs 44,908unit cages and an estimated project cost of Rs. 1292. Rs. 53 crore, which decreased from 2015-16 to 2019-20.
Dr.Abhilaksh Likhi’s visit proves that cage farming of ripples is the superior approach for the Getalsud Dam and, at the same time, shows how rich the upcoming years into the future may be for the growth of the fisheries sector of India when reservoir resources will be fully exploited and learn how to make good use of them.
