Fish farming in paddy fields gaining popularity in Gopalganj

Our Correspondent | Published: September 12, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: September 11, 2014 20:42:18

Fish farming in a paddy field in progress at Amtali village in Kotalipara. — FE Photo

GOPALGANJ, Sept 11: Fish Farming in paddy fields is gaining popularity in Gopalganj district as it brings financial benefit to the farmers.
District fisheries office sources said, there are two ways of fish farming in paddy field, one along with paddy and the other after harvesting of paddy.
A number of people in all five upazilas of the district have been farming Rui, Katal, Mrigal, Telapia, Shorputi, Silvercarp etc. in the low-laying areas. Local fisheries office sources said, farmers have cultivated fish on over 3950 hectares of cropland in the district this year.
Experiencing the financial benefits other farmers also coming forward and are following the same technique of fish farming.
Md. Shamim Haider, District Fisheries Officer (DFO), Gopalganj told The FE that fish farming in paddy fields has unshed in a new chapter in fisheries sector and it is gaining popularity in the district. Fish farmers of the district are now producing about 4000-4500 to metric tonnes (MT) of fish annually in the paddy fields and it meets the local demand.
Not only that fish farming in paddy fields also creates employment of rural people and fulfill the demand of nutrition, he added.
Rathin Barman, a farmer of village Amtali under Kotaliapara Upazila in Gopalganj, told The FE they now annually producing about 1,000 to 1,200 metric tonnes of fish in the paddy fields.
Some local fish cultivators said, the department provides supports to the farmers to make the programme a success and if the farmers get easy term loan and fair price of fish food in the market, they will get interested in farming fish in the paddy fields.