KP Govt Plans To Setup Trout Villages In Malakand, Hazara Divisions

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has planned to establish trout villages in Malakand and Hazara divisions keeping in view of its better climate conditions and water resources for conservation and breeding of this precious aquatic resource on scientific lines.

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Oct, 2018 ) :The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has planned to establish trout villages in Malakand and Hazara divisions keeping in view of its better climate conditions and water resources for conservation and breeding of this precious aquatic resource on scientific lines.

The agriculture, livestock and fisheries department KP has decided to setup 66 new model carp and 21 trout model farms mostly in Malakand and Hazara division in fiscal 2018-19 to bolster fish farming in the province, a senior official in Agriculture Department, Livestock and Fisheries Department told APP.

KP is blessed with both cold and warm water resources and offers immense opportunities for fish farming, adding the province has 6100 kilometers rivers and streams, 6400 hectares of natural lakes and 54600 hectares of dams and reservoirs ideal for fish production.

In-spite of province's huge potential, only 1130 acres are under fish farms with a total fish production of 3200 tons per annum, which was comparatively low compare to population demands.

To cater people's requirements, previous PTI government has setup 38 carps and 56 trout fish farms in fiscal year 2017-18 for breeding of different species besides providing fish-lings to farmers at affordable rate.

The Department, under agriculture policy 2018-25, is focusing on building of capacity of agriculture, livestock and fish farmers to explore new market avenues for trade enhancement and fetching better market prices.

Establishment of quality control, certification and traceability of agriculture, livestock and fish commodities, promotion of climate smart agriculture, use of latest technology and capacity building capacity of farmers, soil and water conservation, strengthening of coordination with Federal government organizations, donor agencies and human resources development would be the major focused areas under the policy.

Under midterm plan 2018-21, priorities will be given on increasing fish production through replenishment of fish resources in natural water bodies with quality breeds, aquatic research and conservation program, disease control, genetic, nutrition and co-operative fishing in the province.

The KP government allocated about Rs 2573 million for 40 projects including 30 ongoing with allocation of Rs 2217 million and 10 new with Rs 255.

001 million for FY 2018-19 for the Department.

The new major projects included in ADP 2018-19 includes establishment of Trout Villages in Malakand and Hazara Division, control of livestock diseases and solarization of tube-wells in KP.

Procurement of earth-moving machinery for land reclamation, eco-friendly management of fruits files, database development through information and communication technology in crops reporting service are among other new planned projects.

The KP Govt will spend around Rs3 billion on extension of mega Pehour Highlevel Canal Project Swabi, Rs1.5 billon on development of Gomal Zam Dam besides utilization of substantial amount of improvement and pavement of canals in the province.

The KP Govt will capitalize on the good work made by the previous PTI Govt and will expedite development pace on ongoing schemes to ensure its timely completion of people's benefits.

The Department has propagated 10,00,00 olive plants to bring 10,000 acres land under cultivation during FY 2017-18 besides provision of 11486 small agriculture implements through model farms centre to uplift farmers' capacity for mechanized agriculture.

In addition to construction of 525 soil conservation structures to protect fertile land, the department constructed 725 watercourses and 570 small storage tanks to improve water efficiency.

As many as 13,300acres cultural waste land was reclaimed, 88solar tube wells installed, 14 milk quality testing labs setup,120 new civil veterinary dispensaries in rented buildings setup that had significantly improved livestock's productivity.

In-spite of challenges of traditional agriculture practices, division of land in small land holdings, climate change, marketing and processing issues, the department will continue efforts to provide maximum facilities to farmers to increase agriculture production in different agro-climatic zones.

These projects would enable the province to meet challenges of 21 century and develop a vibrant agriculture sector that promotes value addition besides exploring international markets for agricultural produce.

These measures will help conserve, manage and develop aquatic resources in public and private sector on modern lines to meet protein requirement of every growing masses.