BOGURA, Mar 16: Indigenous fish farming has brought smile on the faces of hundreds of extreme poor farmers in the district.
Officials at the district Fisheries Department said commercial fish cultivation is expanding in the twelve upazilas of the district.
Cultivators are making a good profit by sending various species of fish to other districts. Dupchanchia, Kahaloo, Adamdighi, Nandigram, Sherpur, Shajahanpur, Shibganj, Dhunot, Sonatola, Shariakandi and Sadar upazilas are now well-known for growing indigenous fish varieties.
A good number of fish farmers in the district said once the indigenous fish were available in all the water bodies across the district. As the number of rivers, canals, pond or other water bodies is decreasing, those are disappearing day by day.
Frequent use of chemical fertilisers in the cropland is another reason for declining fish from the water bodies.
Each kg of cat fish is sold at Tk 400 to Tk 500, pabda at Tk 600 to Tk 650 and koi at Tk 500 to Tk 550 in the retail markets.
"I have started cultivating cat fishes after imparting training from the local Fisheries Department. I spent Tk 13,000 in my 44-decimal pond," said farmer Ataur Rahman under Adamdighi upazila.
The farmer said, "I have made profit of Tk 0.1 million during last two months."
He further said it is possible to earn Tk 60,000 in the next two months."
District Fisheries Official said, "We encourage people to grow indigenous species of fish commercially for more profit."
[email protected]