After repeated losses in shrimp to virus outbreaks, shortages of saline water, drought and heavy rain, many farmers in Paikgachha and Dumuria, Khulna, are now raising native shol (striped snakehead) in small ponds and enclosures. Low costs, lower risk and steady market demand are driving rapid growth, Krishi Shomoy reports.
Zakir of Gorerabad village in Chandkhali union, Paikgachha, used to pull a van. Two years ago he started farming jointly with his cousin Rezwan. In the first year they stocked about 1,250 fingerlings, spent Tk 1.27 lakh and sold fish worth Tk 4.38 lakh; in the second, 2,500 fingerlings cost Tk 1.42 lakh and sold for Tk 4.6 lakh. Zakir now farms on his own.
Uttam Mondal of Dumuria, after losing money on shrimp, stocked 12,400 snakehead fingerlings in four ponds on 50 decimals this year. In five months the fish have reached about a kilogram on average and sell at Tk 900 to 1,000 a kilogram. He has spent Tk 25 lakh to 26 lakh and hopes to earn Tk 40 lakh to 50 lakh.
In Baduria village of Paikgachha, snakehead is farmed in more than 300 ponds, and locals call it "the capital of shol". Most villagers work in feed making, pond care or marketing, with women making fish feed. Farmer Md Hasan stocked 2,600 fingerlings in a six-decimal pond; in seven or eight months the fish reach 700 grams to a kilogram, and he spends Tk 3.5 lakh to 4 lakh a year to sell Tk 7 lakh to 8 lakh worth.
Lakshmi Mondal of Madartala village in Shobhna union, Dumuria, stocked 4,000 fingerlings in a 12-decimal pond in 2021-22 with training and support from the Department of Fisheries, with 80 percent survival. Having spent about Tk 2 lakh over 210 days, she expects to earn Tk 8 lakh.
Dumuria's senior upazila fisheries officer Sohel Md Zillur Rahman Rigan called the spread of profitable native fish farming on small plots in a shrimp-dominated area very encouraging. Paikgachha's senior upazila fisheries officer Saikat Mallik said the fisheries department will provide training, advice and technical support.
Reporting: Khulna correspondent, Krishi Shomoy
Photo: Henry Sullivan Thomas / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
Source: Krishi Shomoy
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