Karimnagar: Farmers advised to focus on raising sheep, fish farming

Karimnagar : Kisan Grameen Mela convener P Sugunakar Rao said that 70 per cen t of India’s population continues to live in rural areas and the country cannot progress economically if the villagers are not economically developed.

A large number of sheep breeders, fishermen, women’s groups and farmers participated in the Kisan Grameen Mela held on the third day on Wednesday. Sugunakar Rao said that farmers can get high profits if they focus on raising fish and dairy sheep in their lands instead of just growing crops.

He said that the women’s associations are running their associations only for money interest and they should try to convert them into product producers and the government should provide marketing facility for their products. Through the fair, buyers will be connected with women’s association products. For sheep breeders various central government schemes are implemented.

He said that the fishermen will be benefited through the Matsya Sampadana Yojana scheme. Due to the lack of cooperation of the state government, the central government is giving its share of the cycle motor scheme for fishermen, but the fishermen could not get the benefit.

Mohan Raju, President of National Prawn Farmers and President of Andhra Pradesh Fish Farmers said that in the 1980s Godavari district was mostly rice farmers and now fish ponds have been formed instead of rice crops and in Karimnagar district, rice fields will become fish ponds in a few years which will benefit the farmers. National Horticulture Director Satya Krishnamraju said that the farmers of Karimnagar will get high profits from palm oil plantations as compared to normal crops, palm oil plantations will bring double the profit. Veterinary Dr. Srinivasa Reddy said that the central government’s sheep breeding scheme will benefit the farmers a lot and they should take advantage of it.