MALAPPURAM: When Zakariya Areekad, Niyas N, Ashique B, Vishnu T, Nizar C and Salman V P — all in the 20-22 age-group — started a fish farm, they hardly knew anything about the business model. Like many other youngsters in the state, they too had lost their jobs last year when the Covid virus broke out. And they jumped in, without giving too much thought to the consequences of investing their small savings into the business. Adding to their distress, they faced a setback as most of their juvenile fish deposited in a small pond in the land owned by Nizar died.
But the group has now made a promising comeback with a decent return from the business, having sold the pangasius fish (Assam vala) worth `30,000 a week ago.“We are happy to have received some return from our investment, especially as the Covid second wave has left us out of money,” says Zakariya, the eldest among them.
“When we started, we knew nothing about the business. We were only looking for some sustainable income after losing our jobs. When we faced a setback, we began to study the process seriously and approached agricultural officers here for help.” As instructed by experts, they dug up a pond — 12 metres long and 10 metres wide, with a depth of one-and-a-half metres.
“Now, we have learnt to keep the pH-level (measure of how acidic/basic water is) optimum for fish. Such knowledge has helped us carry out farming properly. Last week, we harvested pangasius from our main pond and carp fish, like tilapia and catla, from smaller ponds,” Zakariya adds.
The youngsters have so far spent `1 lakh on the business. Though they are yet to make a profit, they are confident of developing their business into a profitable one soon. “They can make a profit if they increase cultivation and start more units in the available land. They will get a 40% subsidy for setting up the farm under the Subhiksha Keralam scheme,” says Ahamed Benna, the aquaculture promoter with the fisheries department in the area.