The State government will soon set up an aquaculture authority to monitor the hatchery activity from seed level to marketing and will ensure MSP to farmers.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Minister Mopidevi Venkata Ramana said the authority would monitor the activity from brooding to shipment.
The imported prawn seeds would be kept in the quarantine facility for five days. The seeds would be brought to the State only after ensuring that there was no virus. As part of it, the seeds would be distributed to farmers only after the seed was kept at Rajiv Gandhi Aqua Quarantine Centre for five days, he said, adding out of 550 prawn hatcheries in the country 420 were located in the State.
According to him, the State has the largest number of hatcheries in the country, and with the lockdown, brooding seed has become a Herculean task. As 80 % of the broader prawns are to be imported from the US, with the lack of proper cargo facilities, there arises a gap in the production activity. In this regard, the State government has already written to the Union Ministry of Commerce and Fisheries to permit the cargo for aqua production and sale.
The farmers were requested not to sell their aqua products in distress as the ports have opened up and exports would pick up once there was movement of the cargo ships, he said, adding, “ As of now, exports of the aqua produce have begun in various ports across the State, soon the cargo services will be made fully functional.”
Referring to the stranded fishermen in Gujarat, the Minister said that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has already spoken to Union Minister Nirmala Seetharaman regarding the issue and he was constantly pursuing the matter.
Reacting to BJP State president Kanna Lakshminarayana's comment that the State government was purchasing the rapid test kits at higher cost, the Minister said that the government had already clarified in this regard. The lowest price offered to other States would be taken into account while making the payments.
Serious charge against TDP
On the spread of coronavirus, the Minister levelled serious allegations against the Opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP). The TDP might have sent 'sleeper cells' to the rural areas to spread the virus with a view to defaming the government, he alleged.