KOCHI: The state is coming to the aid of farmers whose livelihood was hit by the lockdown. Top officials at the fisheries department said they will soon invite applications from farmers to set up biofloc units. The one-year-old project was delayed by the pandemic. Nousher Khan, deputy director of fisheries in Ernakulam, said the project was implemented under the Subhiksha Keralam project.
More farmers have come forward and requested help to set up biofloc units on their compounds.
“Though there were more takers last year, we could install only 212 units in the district. There is a 40 per cent subsidy for farmers, of which one-third is from the fisheries department and two-thirds comes from local bodies,” he says.
“Farmers who do not have a pond of their own can also cultivate fish using this technology. Last year, we cultivated Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia (GIFT) in the units and it was a success,” said Khan. “The important process is the development of floc like algae, fungus inside the tank. The farmer can harvest the yield twice a year,”he says.
He added that technical advice is given to all takers who are new to it and both the state and Centre has projects for this. The Central government project is called Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana.
In Ernakulam alone, there are 50 units operational currently.
Biofloc technology
Biofloc technology was developed in the 1990s as a way for fish and shrimp farmers to conserve feed inputs and utilise wastewater during production. Producers could piggyback off the nitrogen cycle and let beneficial bacterial colonies proliferate in culture water. The bacterial growth (flocs) consume nitrogenous fish waste and toxic metabolites before the cultured species get to eat them.
Subhiksha Keralam
The Kerala Government’s ‘Subhiksha Keralam’ project aims to combat food scarcity in the state. The Kerala state agriculture department has started converting fallow lands into farms.