Bangla farmers turned too much water into its resources for fish culture

Helped by a NGO, Bangladesh local farmers now use their submerged farmland for fish cultivating. It has been so successful, now an increased number of communities in the various regions are doing the same thing. (The Japan Agricultural News, May 7 2017)

"This is a Tilapia. Because they were released just a few weeks ago, it looks small, however, they will grow by the harvest season in November," said an official at a fishing company at Daudkandi area in Bangladesh where I visited the end of April. Young fishermen jumped into the lake, and kindly showed us freshwater fishes.

The area has abundantwater in the monsoon season. It is too much that they cando rice farming only once a year in the area in January through April. Most of farmland just go under water.

After several failures by local people, SHISUK, an NGO headed by Sakiul Millat Morshed at51 years old, decided to do fishculture at the place in 1994. Then they started it a few years later.

Everything went well. They have found several good points in the project; Additional income not only for farmers with land, but also for landless farmers and other community people. Availability of good protein in a season usually they could not intake for many local families. Enjoying high fish prices because of direct marketing to the big wholesalers in urban area.

"We have successfully paid an average of 80% of dividend per share annually. It is a good income for local communities. We have 20% of total share to cover the cost. SHISUK is now working with several communities for 2000 ha. But many community fishing groups have already graduated from our management," said Mr. Morshed. Fajlun Raffman, alocal farmer at 50 years old, told me he makes nearly 10 dollars a day during the fishing season now instead of 1.5 dollars some ten years go before he joined the fishing project. He said” I can send one of my daughter at 10 years old for school with the additional income.”

Mr. Morshed stressed that one of the features of the NGO’s projects is self motivated, and self financed. No grants from its government or foreign donors to set up those fishing groups.