The Hindu : National : "Fish farming not getting adequate attention"

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 28, 2005

National

National

"Fish farming not getting adequate attention"

S. Vydhianathan

World Food Prize winner says the prime reason for the fall in fish production is overexploitation without replenishment

Dr. Modadugu Vijay Gupta

CHENNAI: Fish plays a vital role in providing food and nutrition security to the poor, especially in developing countries.

Unfortunately fish farming is not getting adequate attention from planners and bureaucrats and the allotment for improving the production in the country is negligible, according to Modadugu Vijay Gupta, who won the latest World Food Prize for his work in enhancing nutrition for over one million people in Asia and Africa.

Talking to The Hindu here on Tuesday, Mr. Gupta said fish farming was not getting its due share from the Government. The "alarming decline" in fish production, especially wild stock from sea and rivers, was causing grave concern. The steep fall in wild stock was as high as 90 per cent in some cases. The prime reason was overexploitation without replenishment.

The best way to improve the production was through aquaculture, as wild stock production was not increasing in commensurate with the demand. No doubt fish farming through aquaculture was picking up in Asian countries. The production, which constituted only 5 per cent of total fish production in 1960, increased to 35 per cent now with Asia's contribution being 90 per cent. But it could be increased further. People should realise that aquaculture was part of agriculture. In rural areas, farmers should be sensitised about the enormous benefits that would accrue to them through fish farming, which could be integrated well with rice and livestock farming.

Rice-fish combination

Mr. Gupta narrated his own experience in Bangladesh where farmers succeeded in increasing their rice production by combining it with fish farming. For them, he advocated low cost, low risk and sustainable technology for fish farming. The rice-fish combination not only improved their income but also gave them nutrition security, as fish was the major source of animal protein. Further it reduced pesticide consumption by over 80 per cent, which in turn improved the environment. If there was a crop failure it was compensated by income from fish farming. In Bangladesh the total fish production in 1960 was 65,000 tonnes, which had increased to 8,00,000 tonnes now. Again in Bangladesh many rural women took to fishing, which helped them to supplement their family income and thereby their overall economic situation.

Apart from improving the income of families, fish farming could bring in substantial foreign exchange to developing countries. Globally, trade worth about $63 million was being transacted every year, which could be tapped by developing countries.

In Tamil Nadu, he said, on the advice of M.S. Swaminathan he visited Nagapattinam a few days ago to help local fishermen to improve their income. He said non-governmental groups and self-help groups could be actively involved in disseminating the latest technology to rural people as they had good grassroots level contacts.

Later giving a lecture on "Fish for All" on behalf of the Hindu Media Resource Centre and the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Mr. Gupta said fish contributed 40 to 50 per cent of animal protein in Asia. It could provide the food and nutrition security to the poor if they had an access to it, he said.

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