Bihar has become self-sufficient in fish production: Nitish Kumar

Patna, Oct 19 (PTI) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday said that the state has become self-sufficient in fish production.

Bihar is now supplying fish to other states, he said while inaugurating a workshop on application and demonstration of drone technology in fisheries and aquaculture.

“The production of fish was 2.88 lakh metric tonne in 2005 and now it has increased to 8.73 lakh metric tonne. Now, Bihar has become self-sufficient in fish production. Earlier, fish was brought to Bihar from other states, now the state is supplying fish to other states,” Kumar said.

“People know about the status of development work in Bihar before 2005. The fish production was very low before 2005. When we came to power in November 2005, several development-related policies and programmes were framed. All sectors, including agriculture, animal husbandry, and fisheries were developed and given priority by the state government,” he said.

The CM said that the first agriculture road map for the state was made for 2008 to 2012. The second agriculture road map was made for 2012 to 2017. The third agriculture road map was made for the year 2017 to 2023. The fourth agriculture road map has been implemented from this year, which was inaugurated by President Droupadi Murmu.

With the implementation of the agriculture road map, the production of vegetables, milk, eggs, meat, fruits and other crops has increased. An amount of Rs 1.62 lakh crore was approved for the fourth agriculture road map, the CM said.

“The NDA government at the Centre is doing a lot for the development of Bihar, for which I congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji. The Central government has given assistance for the development of fisheries in the state. The state government is also taking several steps for the development of this sector. Steps taken by the state government and the central government for development in the field of fisheries are benefiting the fish farmers a lot,” Kumar said.

“We (NDA) will keep developing the state and the country together,” he added.

Union Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Minister, Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lallan Singh, also addressed the gathering..

During the event, the CM distributed cheques of grant amount to the beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana. Besides, seven tonne of fish feed was also distributed among 19 fish farmers.