August 08, 2020
Aquaculture
The Role Of Aquaculture In Transforming Nepal
Nepal is one of the small countries in the world sandwiched between neighbouring countries India and China which are big both in terms of population and land availability.
The country with less than 30 million population has a huge number of interior lakes.
There are more than 180+ species of fish that thrive in the aquatic ecosystem. Close to 4 lakh hectares of water are available for aquaculture.
Millions of men and women today work and earn through fish farming in Nepal.
Today, there is enough for the local people to consume and a surplus to sell as well. But it wasn’t the case some decades back.
Fish farming in Nepal was moderate, and the nutrition demand for people in the country was much higher.
The government of Nepal took some strong measures and the new and latest innovations in the aquaculture techniques boosted fish production and subsequently brought down the price. A
Agriculture Development Perspective Plan (2015–2030) and Food and Nutrition Security Plan of Action (FNSP), the National Programs for Food and Nutrition Security have further reinforced fish farming in Nepal.
Today, fish production has the potential of growing at an annual rate of 8 – 9%.
Role of Aquaculture in Helping Fish Farming in Nepal
Nepal is blessed with three river basins and one river system with thousands of rivers of varying lengths.
Therefore, the government of Nepal in the 1970s started encouraging cage aquaculture. Although the yield was low and the population was undernourished, the system continued for a time.
In the 1980s, the developing aquaculture in the region caught the attention of international experts in the field.
A group of scientists worked in Nepal and found that vertical cages were more productive and showed double growth than horizontal ones.
Over the years, this has opened up a great opportunity for fish production. At the same time, different types of fish farming in Nepal, such as warm, cool, and cold-water production, are rapidly growing.
Currently, there are many aquaculture challenges, like the supply of quality feed and transportation issues, which, if overcome, can boost Nepal as one of the global destinations of fish production and reach its growth potential.
- See Also: https://organicabiotech.com/impact-of-covid-19-on-fish-farming-advantages-of-biofloc-technology/
Challenges
Lack of use of the latest biological solutions and modern technology is a cause of concern to increase the productivity of fish farming in Nepal.
Also, diseases are quite common due to a large amount of production across the country.
Another challenge that has come to the fore is the limited supply of high-quality and nutritional feed and the ever-increasing water pollution, which has dented the progress of aquaculture.
As Nepal is one of the least developed countries in the world, the lack of good infrastructure, transportation facilities, and proper roads are major challenges plaguing the growth of the fisheries sector.
To make it more sustainable and profitable for the farmers, there is an urgent need for a sustainable solution that can boost production per unit area in such a way that the country can profit in return for selling fish.
Biofloc fish farming is one of the best alternatives to traditional fish farming practices.
The huge investments required for land, water exchange, and other infrastructure can be avoided with powerful and easy biological solutions like Bioflok from Organica Biotech.
It is a special formulation of microbes that eat the waste and the fish excreta and make the additional feed available for the fish to consume.
It also eliminates the need for water exchange and prevents water from pollution. Thus, the cost of feed can be saved as well.
Furthermore, the probiotics present lead the fight against pathogen attacks, thus protecting diseases in aquaculture.
To further push fish farming in Nepal to the next level and reap sky-high profits from it, the farmers should use Biofloc fish farming systems and powerful solutions like Bioflok. This will certainly transform Nepal in the near future.
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