New Delhi: In a major decision that may give a boost to Blue Revolution and help in doubling farmers' income by 2022, the government has approved Rs 7,552 crore fund for establishing Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF).
According to Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, the move would help boost annual fish production to 20 million tonnes by 2022-23 and generate over 9.40 lakh employment opportunities.
Given that India's fish production is estimated at around 12 million tonnes annually, the allocated funds would be spent on the creation of infrastructures for farmers, including small fish farmers in the coastal and plain regions.
The objective of the FIDF is to bring down post-harvest losses in the fish farming from existing 20-25 per cent to 10-15 per cent by 2022-23 so that income of farmers would be increased.
"The motive of the scheme is to create basic infrastructure facilities at ports to make transportation of fish to other countries a hassle-free. Besides, the fund would be utilised for creation of cold storage, establishment of cold chains, modern fish markets, development of fish processing units, etc," the minister said.
Singh further said that fish production has increased manifold in the government which is led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as fish production has registered a 27 per cent increase in comparison to the ousted UPA government.
The total fish production in the UPA regime of 2010-2014 was 355.16 lakh tonne, which rose to over 450 lakh tone in the present government, while the UPA government had spent on an average Rs 95.61 crore annually in its 10 years of tenure, while the NDA government has spent on an average Rs 433 crore in the last four years of its regime.
India is the second fish producing nation in the world and the production has increased from 7.5 lakh tonne in the year 1950-51 to 126.14 lakh tonne in the year 2017-18.