Bhubaneswar: With the closure of majority hatcheries in Odisha, fish seed growers and farmers find difficulties in getting spawns for the ongoing stocking season in the state. Out of total 65 hatcheries, only two or three fish seed hatcheries are effectively running and supplying spawns to the farmers.
Fish seed growers in the state used to stock during April, May and June. Total requirement of spawn in the state is nearly 700 to 800 crores.
Apart from the closure of the hatcheries, shortage of farm workers and lack of transportation have added to the woes of growers.
Akhsya Kumar Sahu, Owner of Kailash Fisheries and Aquatics said, “There is serious shortage of spawns in the state. Till date, we have supplied 65 crore spawns to 245 farmers/seed growers in last two-three weeks and we have an order of 165 crore spawns. We can produce up to 300 crore. Still there is a huge requirement”.
Sahu also added, “Though fisheries sector is exempted from lockdown, yet there are difficulties in finding workers and drivers for transportation”.
Barring a few districts, farmers and seed growers of all coastal districts require seeds to stock during this period.
Lalit Krushna Sahu, Founder of Sai Krishna Fish Seed Hatcheries, Mayurbhanj said, “Lockdown has seriously affected our hatchery. Though we have the capacity of producing about 50-60 crore spawns, we have produced only 5 crore spawns till now. Due to lack of transportation facilities, farmers are not coming to collect spawns/seeds. We supply seeds to Mayurbhanja, Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapad, Angul, Dhenkanal and Sundaragarh districts in the state.”
However, everyone is waiting for normalizing the situation after May 3.
West Bengal was supplying spawns/seeds to most of the farmers in Odisha. But due to prolonged nationwide lockdown and banning of inter-state trade activities, the supply of seeds from West Bengal has stopped.
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