Two day conference of state fisheries ministers started at Bhubaneswar,Orissa today. Hon'ble Minister of Agriculture, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Shri Sharad Pawar, MOS Prof K V Thomas, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Orissa, Naveen Patnaik , Hon'ble Ministers for Fisheries from States, Experts, Officials of Central and State Governments are also attending the two day conference. Conference of State Fisheries Ministers will discuss various important issues pertaining to the fisheries sector development in the country.
Hon'ble Minister of Agriculture, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Shri Sharad Pawar said that India has play important role in global fisheries and now become third largest producer in the world and second largest producer from aqua culture. Minister also added that India made significant progress in different sectors such as marine capture, aqua culture, island capture fisheries and fresh water aqua culture resulting production of 7 million tones.
Prof K V Thomas, MOS, pointed out the following points in the conference today. While the fisheries sector in a few States is developing rapidly, the performance in other states requires tremendous improvement. There is a wide gap between the States and the regions of the country in terms of their level of development of this sector, and this gap needs to be bridged. We need to take stock of the success stories and try and replicate them in other places for increasing production and productivity in the fisheries sector. There is a need to identify the critical success factors, which would enable the sector to rejuvenate in accordance with a well thought out road map. We need to identify the kinds of interventions required in areas of technology, infrastructure, marketing and capacity building. Given the uneven levels of development in the sector in many states at the moment, no pan Indian solution would be applicable to all states. While policy guidelines could be laid down for the country as a whole, States will have to find State specific solutions to deal with local problems in this sector. This is essential also because, fishery is a State subject and the responsibility for the development of this sector primarily rests with the State Governments.
The Eleventh Plan objective of inclusive growth necessitates priority attention to the agriculture and allied sectors. Additional central Assistance (ACA) to the tune of Rs.25,000 crore has been allocated to these sectors through the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) launched during 2007-08. Prof K V Thomas urges the States to access funding for the fisheries sector from this scheme. The importance placed on the implementation of the scheme can be judged from the fact that there is no State-matching share to be provided for the scheme and 100 per cent outlay is provided by the Centre as ACA for various sectors within agriculture and allied sectors. RKVY provides an opportunity to complement the resources of the States for the fisheries sector.
The Eleventh Five Year Plan has targeted a growth rate of 6 per cent for the fisheries sector. This requires resources and investments. Our fish farmers need to be convinced through training and demonstration activities that fishery is a highly profitable activity. Many a time it has been seen that the technology, perfected in our laboratories has not reached the intended beneficiaries in the field. The transition of technology from the lab to the field has to be managed in an efficient manner. A host of activities need to be undertaken to perfect this transition. The efficacy of the extension services in Agriculture Sector in general and fisheries in particular must be improved. A fish farmer must be convinced of the economic viability of his project before he decides to embark on aquaculture.
Prof Thomas also added that the fish farmers in the country by and large belong to the weaker sections of our society. In most cases, a large segment of the fishing community, belongs to the Below Poverty Line households. Despite their hard work, many a times not enough remuneration is received by the fishermen to guarantee a comfortable livelihood for their families. Prof Thomas, therefore urge the State Governments to put greater emphasis on the welfare of fishermen apart from making adequate efforts to access funding and efficiently implement the centrally sponsored National Scheme of Welfare of Fishermen.
Hon'ble Minister of Agriculture, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Shri Sharad Pawar said that India has play important role in global fisheries and now become third largest producer in the world and second largest producer from aqua culture. Minister also added that India made significant progress in different sectors such as marine capture, aqua culture, island capture fisheries and fresh water aqua culture resulting production of 7 million tones.
Prof K V Thomas, MOS, pointed out the following points in the conference today. While the fisheries sector in a few States is developing rapidly, the performance in other states requires tremendous improvement. There is a wide gap between the States and the regions of the country in terms of their level of development of this sector, and this gap needs to be bridged. We need to take stock of the success stories and try and replicate them in other places for increasing production and productivity in the fisheries sector. There is a need to identify the critical success factors, which would enable the sector to rejuvenate in accordance with a well thought out road map. We need to identify the kinds of interventions required in areas of technology, infrastructure, marketing and capacity building. Given the uneven levels of development in the sector in many states at the moment, no pan Indian solution would be applicable to all states. While policy guidelines could be laid down for the country as a whole, States will have to find State specific solutions to deal with local problems in this sector. This is essential also because, fishery is a State subject and the responsibility for the development of this sector primarily rests with the State Governments.
The Eleventh Plan objective of inclusive growth necessitates priority attention to the agriculture and allied sectors. Additional central Assistance (ACA) to the tune of Rs.25,000 crore has been allocated to these sectors through the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) launched during 2007-08. Prof K V Thomas urges the States to access funding for the fisheries sector from this scheme. The importance placed on the implementation of the scheme can be judged from the fact that there is no State-matching share to be provided for the scheme and 100 per cent outlay is provided by the Centre as ACA for various sectors within agriculture and allied sectors. RKVY provides an opportunity to complement the resources of the States for the fisheries sector.
The Eleventh Five Year Plan has targeted a growth rate of 6 per cent for the fisheries sector. This requires resources and investments. Our fish farmers need to be convinced through training and demonstration activities that fishery is a highly profitable activity. Many a time it has been seen that the technology, perfected in our laboratories has not reached the intended beneficiaries in the field. The transition of technology from the lab to the field has to be managed in an efficient manner. A host of activities need to be undertaken to perfect this transition. The efficacy of the extension services in Agriculture Sector in general and fisheries in particular must be improved. A fish farmer must be convinced of the economic viability of his project before he decides to embark on aquaculture.
Prof Thomas also added that the fish farmers in the country by and large belong to the weaker sections of our society. In most cases, a large segment of the fishing community, belongs to the Below Poverty Line households. Despite their hard work, many a times not enough remuneration is received by the fishermen to guarantee a comfortable livelihood for their families. Prof Thomas, therefore urge the State Governments to put greater emphasis on the welfare of fishermen apart from making adequate efforts to access funding and efficiently implement the centrally sponsored National Scheme of Welfare of Fishermen.
