Jammu, May 04: Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Agriculture Production Department (APD), Atal Dulloo on Thursday said the fisheries sector has a lot of scope for growth and increased productivity. He emphasised on setting up more trout hatcheries, mini-feed mills, fish kiosks and other activities planned by the fisheries department.
He was chairing the UT-level Approval and Monitoring Committee (AMC) meeting of the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) to finalise the action plan of PMMSY 2023-24 for the Fisheries Department. The meeting shared the achievements of the department with the ACS and it was revealed that fish production increased by 28% between the years 2019-20 and 2022-23.
The proposed plan for the current year under PMMSY includes setting up units and facilities to support fishermen and promote aquaculture development in both the private and government sectors. These include hatcheries, feed mills, tanks, markets and support services. Interventions such as a disease diagnostic lab and brood bank are also planned.
The ACS during the meeting was informed about the expected outcomes, including an increase in fish production, job creation, value chain strengthening, market infrastructure development, promoting ornamental fisheries, securing fishermen’s livelihood, reducing post-harvest losses and accessible disease diagnostic facilities for farmers.
Pertinently, PMMSY, a flagship scheme launched in 2020-21, aims to enhance fish production to 220 LMT with an investment of over Rs. 20,000 crores by 2024-25. Jammu & Kashmir has been given a target of producing an additional 15,000 MT of freshwater fish under the PMMSY program during the project period.
Meanwhile, the ACS also chaired the UT Level Executive Committee meeting for the National Livestock Mission (NLM) 2023-24, where the physical and financial achievements of the Animal Husbandry and Sheep Husbandry departments were shared.
Among the topics discussed were the progress made under breed development activities for livestock and poultry, the establishment of a Regional Semen Production Laboratory and Semen Bank for sheep and goats and the propagation of Artificial Insemination centres.
During the meeting, the ACS emphasised the need for world-class training and capacity building to develop these sectors in J&K. The ACS also underlined that an MoU has been signed with New Zealand for the development of the sheep husbandry sector in J&K.
The meeting also covered other activities such as capacity building, exposure visits and insurance. The meetings were attended by Director General Sheep Husbandry Kashmir, Director Animal Husbandry Jammu/Kashmir, Director Sheep Husbandry Jammu, Director Fisheries besides other officers of the concerned departments both in person and through video conferencing.
