During his visit to the shrimp farms at Lahli village, Rohtak, Haryana, Dr. Abhilaksh Likhi, Secretary of the Department of Fisheries, interacted with shrimp farmers to understand the challenges faced by saline water shrimp farmers. He also distributed pedigreed common carp seed produced under the NAHEP scheme to selected farmers. Dr. Likhi emphasized the future plan for converting waste land into wealth through aquafarming.
Scientists from ICAR-CIFE informed Dr. Likhi that salinization of groundwater in inland states like Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh has created significant economic, social, and environmental consequences. This affects around 8.62 million hectares of land. They highlighted that saline groundwater can be economically viable through aquaculture practices.
Currently, 8554.15 MT of shrimp is produced annually from 2167 hectares of saline water aquaculture in four north Indian states. However, these states have 58000 hectares suitable for saline water aquaculture. Therefore, there is ample scope for shrimp and fish farming in these areas. To promote species diversification in saline water aquaculture, the Department of Fisheries has approved a project under PMMSY to CIFE, Rohtak, for the genetic improvement of common carp.
Dr. Likhi also reviewed the activities of ICAR-CIFE, Rohtak, including the genetic improvement program of common carp supported under PMMSY. He congratulated the scientists for developing technology to fortify deficient ions in inland saline water, making it suitable for shrimp farming. Dr. Likhi emphasized creating more awareness about adopting this technology in Haryana, UP, Rajasthan, and Punjab to harness their full aquaculture potential. This initiative aims to help double the income of fish farmers in these states.