Govt doubles down on structured skilling for fish farmers, 22,921 benefitted
New Delhi, Jan 10
In a bid to empower fishers and fish farmers by enhancing their technical skills, promoting the adoption of scientific practices, and ensuring environmentally responsible operations, the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana emphasises skill development and capacity building as critical enablers for modernising the fisheries value chain, the government said on Saturday.
In the last six months, total 499 training programmes were conducted, benefitting total 22,921 participants under the scheme.
By equipping stakeholders with modern practices and technologies, PMMSY continues to empower fish farmers, entrepreneurs, and allied communities, ensuring food security, nutritional well-being, and livelihood enhancement.
The initiative enhances productivity, reduces post-harvest losses and establishes marketing linkages by developing human resource and institutional capacity.
The initiative, led by Department of Fisheries, has not only empowered stakeholders but also laid a strong foundation for the future growth and resilience of the fisheries and aquaculture sector.
"This initiative will ultimately contribute towards unlocking the potential of the sector, generating employment and thus, contributing to the socio-economic growth of the nation," said Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.
The structured road-map for training and capacity-building programmes for 2025-2027 includes training sessions, exposure visits and knowledge-sharing initiatives.
With rapid advancements in aquaculture technologies and increasing demand for quality fish products, structured training covers areas of Pre-production, Production and Post Production focusing on hatchery operations, advance grow out techniques, Integrated/composite fish culture, fish health management, feed formulation, seaweed cultivation, and value-added fish processing.
In this regard, the Department of Fisheries has earmarked financial component of Rs 2.93 crore, via National Fisheries Development Board, Hyderabad, being the Nodal Implementing agency for Training and Capacity Building Programmes under PMMSY and PM-MKSSY.
Special focus is given to modern systems like Recirculatory Aquaculture System (RAS), Biofloc, cage culture, and ornamental fish breeding, enabling fish farmers to diversify and expand operations, said the ministry.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Training 22,921 people in six months is impressive on paper. But the real test is on-ground implementation. I hope the training reaches the small-scale farmers in remote villages, not just the larger commercial ones. The allocated budget seems modest for the scale of our fisheries sector.
Good step forward. The mention of seaweed cultivation and ornamental fish breeding is interesting. It shows the govt is thinking about diversification and high-value products, not just traditional fish farming. This can create new entrepreneurial opportunities for youth in coastal states.
As someone from a fishing community in Kerala, I appreciate the focus on "environmentally responsible operations." Our traditional knowledge combined with these modern techniques like RAS can ensure sustainability. Hope the exposure visits include successful models from within India.
Investing in skilling is always a smart long-term strategy. The structured roadmap for 2025-27 shows planning. The key will be consistent follow-up and support after the training. Will there be a mechanism for these trained farmers to access credit or new market linkages?
Value-added fish processing is the need of the hour. We export so much raw material. If our farmers can learn to process and package, they can capture more value. This directly links to the "Atmanirbhar Bharat" vision. Hope the training modules are practical and in local languages.
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