In an effort to achieve self-sufficiency in fish production in Tripura, Minister of Fisheries Sudhangshu Das stressed on hiking the production to meet the required demand. “The consumption of fish is among the highest in Tripura. Almost 95 per cent of the people in our state consume fish. But our production is not fully meeting the demand,” the minister said on Thursday.
While addressing a state-level review meeting held at the Department of Fisheries in Agartala, Das stressed on enhancing fish production by leveraging the allocated funds strategically and involving the local people, especially the unemployed youths. Highlighting challenges in proper utilisation of the budget allocated for the department, the minister stated the desired outcomes could not be achieved due to several factors and new targets have been set in the meeting to address the issues.
He pointed out that involving unemployed youths in cultivation of fish and other related industries is a key strategy and this initiative may help make Tripura attain self-sufficiency in fish production and thus reducing the state’s dependency on importing fish, leading to strengthening the local economy. He also stressed on collaborative efforts and time-bound work to overcome these existing obstacles to hike production of local fish.
The minister assured to address all challenges with clear strategies and set timelines to fulfil the objectives. Earlier in March this year, the minister stated that nearly 1.15 lakh metric tonne of fish is required annually for 95 per cent of the state’s population estimated to be fish consumers. While Tripura produces 85 thousand metric tonne of fish, the state still needs to import 30 thousand metric tonne of fish from adjoining Bangladesh and other Indian states.
The state government also declared the setting up of the first Integrated Aqua Park at Unakoti district after the Centre approved funds for the first phase of the project under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana. The Government of India sanctioned Rs 42.39 crore in the first phase of implementing the project at the Satero Miyan Haur Area in Kailashahar of the Unakoti district.
In 2002-03, Tripura had set a 10-year target for food self-sufficiency. The target was not achieved at the time of evaluation in 2012-13 with barely 25 thousand MT meat, 12.5 crore eggs and 1.05 MT milk being produced in the state annually. Later, the erstwhile Left Front government set a new target for self-sufficiency in food production by 2020. But despite repeated attempts, it failed to cut down on its import dependency.
In 2020, the then chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb said his government is trying to double the income of farmers and poultry farmers by intensive cultivation and introduction of high yielding varieties. He stressed on developing production in primary sector activities to boost revenue and overcome the crises arising out of the pandemic induced lockdown.