PARADIP: Even as the demand for Asian Cat fish (locally known as Desi Magur) Clarias batrachus is high in local markets, the population of this fish breed in Jagatsinghpur has come down to a large extent due to inadequate supply of seeds and production facilities.
As a result, the price of this variety of fish has gone up to Rs 250 to Rs 300 a kg at local markets.
To cash in on the situation, many farmers of this coastal district have come forward to breed Desi Magur in their kitchen ponds under the guidance of researcher Trilochan Swain of Badalahanga village here.
After acquiring the know-how of Magur culture from the then Director of Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Bhubaneswar, S Ayyapan, Swain set up the first Magur hatchery in Shreekshetramohan biocomplex in the district in 2006 for which the government sanctioned Rs 1 crore.
His breeding technique involves dissecting a male Magur and triturating the testis in saline. The female Magur is then slit to get the eggs in a dry plastic tub which are fertilised with the sperm solution. The eggs are then incubated under flow-through system for 26 hours to hatch and spawns are washed off the dead eggs. The spawns are kept under flow-through system with proper feeding and water management.
Fingerlings are then produced from it with a survival rate of 70-80 pc. After this, the fingerlings of five gram size are left in paddy fields or ponds and with proper feeding in eight months, the fingerlings grow up to the size of 100 gm that are ready to harvest.
Farmers of various parts of the district have adopted this technique to breed the Desi Magur both in small and large-scale after obtaining training from Swain. “Breeding of Magur will not just help them develop their socio-economic status but also increase the population of this particular breed of fish,” said Swain.
A PhD holder in bio-technology, Swain began breeding Magur along with some farmers in small pond in 2006 and today, farmers are breeding 2.5 tonnes of Magur per hectare with a profit margin of Rs 3 lakh to Rs 4 lakh.
Appreciating the efforts of Swain, DFO Pabitra Behera said this would go a long way in seed production and breeding of Desi Magur in the district.