Atal Dulloo roots for increased productivity in fisheries, livestock sectors

JAMMU, May 04: Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Agriculture Production, Atal Dulloo, chaired the UT Level Approval and Monitoring Committee Meeting of the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) today. The committee met to finalise the Action Plan of PMMSY 2023-24 of the Fisheries Department.

The meeting shared the achievements of the department with the ACS and it was revealed that fish production increased 28% between the years 2019-20 and 2022-23.

The ACS emphasised setting up a greater number of trout hatcheries, mini feed mills, fish kiosks and value addition, besides the other activities planned by the fisheries department. He emphasised that the sector has a lot of scope for growth and increased productivity.

The proposed plan for the current year includes setting up various units and facilities to support fishermen and promote aquaculture development in both the private and government sectors. These include hatcheries, feed mills, tanks, markets and support services. Interventions such as a disease diagnostic lab and brood bank are also planned.

The ACS was informed about the expected outcomes, including an increase in fish production, job creation, value chain strengthening, market infrastructure development, promoting ornamental fisheries, securing fishermen’s livelihood, reducing post-harvest losses and accessible disease diagnostic facilities for farmers.

PMMSY, a flagship scheme launched in 2020-21, aims to enhance fish production to 220 LMT with an investment of over Rs. 20,000 crores by 2024-25. Jammu and Kashmir has been given a target of producing an additional 15,000 MT of freshwater fish under the PMMSY program during the project period.

The ACS also chaired a UT Level Executive Committee Meeting for the National Livestock Mission 2023-24, where the physical and financial achievements of the Animal Husbandry and Sheep Husbandry departments were shared.

Among the topics discussed were the progress made under breed development activities for livestock and poultry, the establishment of a Regional Semen Production Laboratory and Semen Bank for sheep and goat and the propagation of Artificial Insemination centres.

During the meeting, the ACS emphasised the need for world-class training and capacity building to develop these sectors in J&K. The ACS also underlined that an MoU has been signed with New Zealand for the development of the sheep husbandry sector in J&K.

The meeting also covered other activities such as capacity building, exposure visits and insurance.

The meetings were attended by departmental heads like Director Animal Husbandry, Director Sheep Husbandry etc besides other officers from Jammu in person. Director Fisheries and other corresponding officers from Kashmir attended through video conference.