State Minister for Fisheries and Livestock Sultan Salauddin Tuku has stressed the development of government fish farms and greater use of modern technology, both to raise the country's fish production and to ensure the quality of its fish.

He was speaking at around noon on Friday, 11 September, while inspecting the government fish seed production farm at Atpukur Par in Tangail Sadar upazila.

To enrich the fisheries sector further, the state minister said, the production capacity of government farms must rise; fish seed output can be increased through improved management, modern technology and proper maintenance of existing infrastructure, and officials must work together to that end.

Alongside higher production, he said, environmental balance and electricity saving must be weighed seriously; wider use of environment-friendly technology such as solar power on state farms would make production more sustainable. During the visit he inaugurated a 20-kilowatt solar power system at the farm, inspected fish in the brood ponds and planted a tree on the premises, and expressed satisfaction with the solar installation.

Present were Md Ahsan Hasib Khan, director of the Department of Fisheries for Dhaka division; Md Mashiur Rahman, project director of the infrastructure development project to raise output at existing government fish farms; Tangail District Fisheries Officer Mohammad Shahjahan Kabir; Sadar upazila nirbahi officer Shahin Mia; and fisheries officials of various levels.

Quality fingerlings from government hatcheries underpin production on private farms; if the electricity that pumps and aerates a hatchery comes from the sun, the saving can find its way into the price a farmer pays for seed.

Source: banglanews24