In the morning sun a medium-sized pond glitters. From a distance it looks like any other fish pond, but up close something different shows: large golda (giant freshwater) prawns surface through the gaps in the fishermen's net. They are being farmed for the first time in Naogaon, a northern border district. The man behind this unusual success is Raju Sardar, a fish farmer from Dighirpar village in Shoilgachhi union of the district's Sadar upazila.

Raju Sardar had farmed carp for a long time, but with conventional farming giving limited profits, he had been thinking of trying something new. Last June he got the chance to host a demonstration titled "Golda prawn farming under good management", run under the fisheries component of the agriculture unit of the local NGO Mausumi. Under the demonstration he was given 500 golda prawn juveniles.

Many people still thought it was risky, but Raju Sardar went ahead. On his own initiative he collected another 1,000 juveniles and began raising golda prawns together with carp. Regular water-quality testing, balanced feed and keeping the pond bottom clean were all carried out to a plan.

"Golda prawns are very sensitive. If the water quality is not right, there are problems. So I kept a close watch," Raju Sardar said.

The care paid off quickly. Within a few months the prawns were growing fast, and they are now running at seven to eight prawns to the kilogram, which the report describes as a very satisfactory result for freshwater farming.

Raju Sardar expects the pond to produce about 130 kg of golda prawns. With golda currently selling at Tk 800 to Tk 1,000 a kg, he hopes to earn roughly Tk 1.2 lakh to Tk 1.4 lakh. "Farming golda prawns alongside carp has created the chance of double profit from the same pond," he said.

Local fish farmers Chapal and Saiful said there had been fear and doubt about farming golda prawns in fresh water. "We could never have imagined golda prawns could be farmed successfully in a pond like this. After seeing Raju Sardar's success, we have already started farming them too," they said.

Raju Sardar's pond has become a living training centre. Farmers visit every day, from the surrounding area and from other parts of the district. Some 30 to 40 farmers from different parts of Naogaon have already taken up golda prawn farming.

Shahariar Hossain, fisheries officer of the agriculture unit of the development organisation Mausumi, said Raju Sardar's success is not just a personal success story but a story of possibility. If golda farming with carp spreads in Naogaon, it will create jobs, raise fish production and strengthen the local economy, he said, adding that a new dream would be born from a single pond and open a new chapter for the local fisheries sector. He said many people had already started golda farming after seeing Raju Sardar's success, achieved with PKSF support.

Dr Md Bayojid Alam, senior upazila fisheries officer of Naogaon Sadar, said he saw the initiative as very positive. "Farming golda prawns with carp makes it possible to earn well even from a small area. Raju Sardar's success is an example for other farmers to follow. We want the local development organisation Mausumi to take up more initiatives of this kind," he said.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.