Modi inaugurates projects to enhance income of dairy farmers, fisheries

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) and e-Gopala App, a comprehensive breed improvement marketplace and information portal for direct use of farmers, which will do away with the role of middlemen in procurement and purchase.

After inaugurating the projects in Bihar virtually the Prime Minister interacted with many farmers involved in dairy and other animal rearing work. During the ceremony Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Union Minister for Animal Husbandry Giriraj Singh were also present.

Speaking on the occasion the Prime Minister said, "India is inching towards a goal where in the village itself there will be food processing clusters and research units." He said the target in 'Blue Revolution' is to double the export of fish products and Ganga rejuvenation plan will help the people involved in the profession.

"The project has been started in 21 states and Rs 20,000 crore will be spend in the next four-five years. An amount of Rs 1,700 cr has been initiated to start the project," said the Prime Minister.

As of now, the Department of Fisheries has approved Rs 1,723 crore worth of proposals for 21 states and Union Territories in phase-I under the PMMSY. Priority has been accorded for income-generating activities under the scheme.

The Prime Minister also interacted with farmers and producers involved in dairy farming and other professions, and told them that the government will arrange a tour to the Amul facility in Gujarat for the farmers to get more experience to increase production.

This is a big ticket launch ahead of the Bihar elections. The Prime Minister emphasized that a lot of effort is being put in to reach the beneficiaries of PMKGY and especially to the migrant labourers who have returned to their native places.

The Prime Minister said that under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PMKSN) 10 crore farmers have benefited out of which 75 lakh farmers are from Bihar and Rs 6,000 crore has been deposited in their accounts.

The PMMSY is a flagship scheme for focused and sustainable development of the fisheries sector with an estimated investment of Rs 20,050 crore, as a part of the 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' package. This is the highest-ever investment in the fisheries sector. Of this, an investment of about Rs 12,340 crore is proposed for beneficiary-oriented activities in Marine, Inland fisheries and Aquaculture while about Rs 7,710 crore are proposed for Fisheries Infrastructure.

The PMMSY aims at enhancing fish production by an additional 70 lakh tonne by 2024-25, increasing fisheries export earnings to Rs 1,00,000 crore by 2024-25, doubling the income of fisheries and fish farmers, reducing post-harvest losses from 20-25 per cent to about 10 per cent and generation of additional 55 lakh direct and indirect gainful employment opportunities in the fisheries sector and allied activities, said the government in a release on Wednesday.

In Bihar, the scheme envisages an investment of Rs 1,390 crore with a Central share of Rs 535 crore and the additional fish production target pegged at 3 lakh tonnes. During the current financial year, the Centre has sanctioned the proposal of the Bihar government at a total project cost of Rs 107 crore.

Prime Minister Modi also announced the establishment of a Fish Brood Bank at Sitamarhi, and the Aquatic Disease Referral Laboratory at Kishanganj, for which assistance has been provided under PMMSY.