The 16th Fish Farmers’ Day was observed under the aegis of the State Department of Fisheries at its Lamphelpat complex on Sunday. The event was aimed to produce enough table fish to meet the demands of the state by promoting local fish farmers. The State Agriculture and Fisheries minister, Md Abdul Nasir, was the chief guest of the function while the Secretary of Fisheries, ThGopenMeetei, presided as the functional president. The Director of Fisheries, David K Shimray; Director of Economics & Statistics, Peijonna Kamei; and E Sulochana Devi were the guests of honour. Many upcoming fish farmers of the state were honoured for their commendable activities by giving monetary award and citations in the Fish Fair cum Fish Crop Competition last year. A cash award of Rs 1 lakh, Rs 70,000 and Rs 50,000 were awarded to three noted farmers Ningthoujam Kumar Singh of ThangaChingmei, NingthoujamBasanta of Keibul, both under Bishnupur district and SoibamSurchandra Singh of Hiyangthang in Imphal West district as 1st , 2nd and 3rd prize winning farmers in the competition. In his speech, Director of Fisheries David K Shimray appealed the farmers to think positively and produce enough table fish for the local population. Currently, the state produces about 30,000 metric tons of table fish annually against the requirement of 40,000 metric tons. He also highlighted some schemes for the welfare of local fish farmer for the last five years. The State Agriculture and Fisheries minister, Md Abdul Nasir, said the Farmers’ Day is organized for the welfare of the farmers. In this regard, he urged the farmers to highlight their grievances at the right platform and right person(s) so that the matter could be looked into timely.
2016 Eastern Mirror.