JHENIDAH, July 31: Farmers of 10 villages under 2 unions in Kalia upazia of Narail district have managed to turn the wheels of fortune by cultivating lobster in enclosures extensively.
Cultivators of 4 villages under Chanchuri union - Chanchuri, Dohar Chanchuri, Krishnapur and Kadamtali and 6 villages of Purulia union to name Fuldah, Dhariaghati, Chandrapur, Purulia, Ambari and Bashgram, are farming lobster (locally known as Galda Chingri) in around 1500 small-big enclosures and presently passing happy time. Of the total, about 800 farms have been established in three villages - Chanchuri, Dohar Chanchuri and Krishnapur.
One kg of lobster sells at Tk. 1,000 to Tk. 1,100 in the local market.
20 years ago many poverty-stricken people of the villages used to go to other districts on the look out for work of day labourers. However, now they have engaged manpower in the farms and brought prosperity to the families, according to sources.
Lobster cultivation has created ample scope of employment for thousands of people in the area as many men and women, including both male and female children catch snails in the beel Chanchuri to sell them to farm owners while many other men are appointed for guarding enclosures at nights on the monthly payment basis while many others employed for taking care of the fish and water bodies.
Police and BDR men sometimes pour out hatchlings on roads when they are carried from the sources of prawns to the enclosures on the excuse that there is government ban on collecting such item, farmer Humayan Kabir of Chanchuri told this correspondent.
"Banks do not give the loan on fish cultivation. If the farmers got bank loan on easy terms and conditions, they could enhance their production much more in quantity", observed Ebarat Hossain, a fish farmer-cum-trader of Chanchuri village.
No fisheries officers come to give advice to the farmers of the enclosures in the locality, grumbled farmer and fisheries feed trader Md. Khosrujjaman of the area.
Farmer Md. Tourot Mollah of Chanchuri village told the FE that some dishonest hatchlings traders most often put them in trouble by mixing poor-quality hatchlings of other species ('sos' species) with the high-quality ones of rivers.
Mizanur Rahman Nur, 45, a successful cultivator at Chanchuri village told the Financial Express, "I had nothing except my hut in the past. However, I have had a lot through sincere farming of lobster. Now I own 7 acres of enclosure, which fetches me a net profit between Tk. 0.5 and Tk. 0.7 million per year."
Lobster culture brings solvency to farmers of 10 villages of Kalia
Our Correspondent | Published: August 01, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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