Chronic shortage in fish production
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: November 08, 2021 -

LOCALLY produced fish yield for this year's Fish Fair, which is held every year in connection with the Ningol Chakkouba festival, officially put at 1.24 lakh against the target of 90,000 is something to cherish about for it signifies that the government's effort to promote aquaculture is paying off to some extent.

However, the state still facing annual production deficit of 23,000 metric tonne and spending Rs 4 crore in importing fish to meet the demand underscores that more fish farming projects backed by the subject experts and proper land use policy will have to be implemented for overcoming the chronic dependence on other states for one of the choicest food items of Manipuris.

While increase in the production this year reflects that the local farmers are keen to contribute their mite in augmenting the annual yield with the right support of the government institutions, there is no way that the objective to be self-reliant in fish production could be realised if the area under aquaculture remains static.

As of date, participants of the fish fair are limited to established big farms while those newly venturing into fish farming on commercial scale mainly comprise few wealthier individuals and top bureaucrats who purchased land beyond the city limits as a retirement plan.

Through their connections in the higher echelon of the administration, these groups of individuals could avail government-sponsored schemes and financial assistance with ease while ordinary citizens have to run from pillar to post to seek the support of the administration or banking institutions.

Similar to the frenzied race for gifting items during the Ningol Chakkouba festival, the number of consumers too has been increasing in commensurate with the growing population.

With the festival no more confined to the Meetei community it is but natural that the demand for fish would only surge in the coming years, thereby, necessitating expansion of the fish production areas.

Some decades back, there used to be substantial number of families, both in the rural, suburban and urban areas; which feasted on fish reared from own ponds.

With such ponds filled to make way for houses and other commercial purposes, purchasing from the markets or directly from the fish farms has been the norm today.

As such, the huge gap between the annual production and demand needs to be bridged with effective policy at the ground level.

Even if there no remote possibility of achieving self-sufficiency in production of food grains and vegetables on account of the pathetic irrigation network coupled with unpredictable rainfall pattern, Manipur seems to be naturally endowed for aquaculture for there are still many water bodies and sufficient ground water stock across the valley districts.

Thus, there is no valid reason why the state should perennially import when there is vast potential for fish farming.

It is equally important for the government to ensure materialisation of the much-publicised projects and schemes aimed at bridging the supply-demand gap instead of the people compelled to consume imported fish and fish products, which are generally laced or treated with chemicals or other forms of preservatives to increase their shelf life.