The off-shore fish farm funded under the National Agriculture Development Programme and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development schemes have been attracting farmers in the district. Under the NADP-sponsored programme, fish seed farm has been set up at Mettupatti village near Lalgudi and it has started paying dividends, said Collector K. S. Palanisamy. In a release issued here after visiting various sites where the fish farms had been developed in the district, he said that 50 per cent of the cost for setting up the farm had been released as subsidy to farmers. He said that off-shore fish farms had been set up on 15.06 hectares with financial assistance from the Central and State governments. As many as 48 farmers had benefited under the scheme. On the multipurpose fish farm, he said that another 255 farmers had got Rs. 12.20 lakh under the subsidy-based scheme implemented through the Drought Relief scheme for delta district farmers. Free seedlings, numbering 40,000 and worth Rs. 42,000, had been released under the community fish farm development scheme in three major tanks in Natarajapuram panchayat with a total extent of 23.53 hectares. The fish market at Kasi Vilangi village would be developed at an estimate of Rs. 10 lakh under the Fish Farmers Development Agency, he said. The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development had sanctioned Rs.1.81 crore for providing basic infrastructure at the fish farm in the district.
2016, The Hindu