A state-of-the-art fish farm spread over an area of over 13 kanal, having the capacity to produce 12 tons of fish, has come up in central Kashmir district of Budgam.Officials said that the 13 Kanal and 13 marla fish farm was laced with state-of-the-art infrastructure and would be further augmented with improved equipment, compound fencing and road development. “The farm would produce 12 tons of the fish once the farm is fully upgraded and functional,” they said.They said that there are 500 registered fishermen in the district for which over 99 houses have been constructed in Budgam. “The annual fish production has boosted with 35 trout rearing units and 54 carp units established in the district,” they said.They said that the Government was taking several steps to ensure hassle-free entrepreneurship in the fish and poultry farming sectors. “Under the various centrally-sponsored schemes, the farmers would be provided with ex-gratia on the damage or loss of the production,” they said. They said that in private sector of fish farming the government would provide feed to the farmers on the slashed rates. “Despite inflation, in the market, the rates of the feed have been slashed to a very extent for the farmers,” they said. Meanwhile, Minister for Agriculture Production Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura said that the Budgam district has huge potential for the fish farming.He said that youth instead of looking for government jobs should set up fish, poultry or bee colonies for better and progressive livelihood. He said by setting up these units not only they can get jobs for themselves but also for others.