April 24, 2009
India invests US$123 million to boost aquaculture sector
India's National Fisheries Development Board is spending Rs6.2 billion (US$123 million) to expand the use of intensive aquaculture in ponds and tanks.
India's aquaculture industry has worked to reduce the sector's environmental impact in recent years by restoring marine habitats. Aquaculture farmers are also increasingly using vaccinations in place of antibiotics to prevent disease.
India now thinks that developing an intensive aquaculture industry could help optimise fish yields from about 2.41 million hectares of freshwater. The Board is also rewriting its guidelines for aquaculture while providing money to help farmers adopt technologies for sustainable fish farming and fish seed production.
The Board said the majority of India's eligible freshwater is located in tropical waters, in which aquaculture can be used to increase fish production to five tonnes per hectare each year. But intensive aquaculture can be used in about 800,000 hectares by adding seeds, feed and fertilisers during the next six years.
