Hundreds of millionaires in one union by farming fish

Recently, Muhuri river area of ​​Osmanpur Union, West Banshkhali and Patakot can be seen, fish farms have been developed in a wide area. Somewhere the workers are feeding the fish in the farm, somewhere the preparation for fishing is going on.

It was learned that hundreds of vehicles are busy transporting fish fry, food and other materials to these farms of Osmanpur Union since dawn. Throughout the day, workers feed, administer medicine and care for the fish. Preparation for fishing starts after evening. Between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m., fish-laden vehicles leave for various towns and cities with live fish. This activity of fish production and marketing runs throughout the year.

Hundreds of vehicles are busy transporting fish fry, food and other materials to these farms of Osmanpur Union since dawn. Throughout the day, workers feed, administer medicine and care for the fish. Preparation for fishing starts after evening. Between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m., fish-laden vehicles leave for various towns and cities with live fish.

How to start fish farmingAccording to local fish farming and upazila fisheries office sources, Osmanpur Union was once a disaster prone area as it is next to the sea and the Muhuri River. The main sources of livelihood of the inhabitants were pastoralism, agriculture and fishing in open water bodies. After the implementation of the Muhuri project in 1986, vast new grasslands arose on the eastern side of the project area. In the 1990s, a few local people started commercial fish farming by building a farm in that pasture. After seeing their success, many others joined this business.

According to Upazila Fisheries Office and local farmers, currently there are fish farms on about 15 thousand acres of land in Paschim Banshkhali, Muhuri project and Patakot areas of Osmanpur Union. Due to lack of space, the farmers of the union are cultivating fish in various areas including Chairman Ghat and Subarnachar of Noakhali, Sonagazi and Chagalnaya of Feni and Banshkhali, Halishahar, Sitakunda, Banshbaria and Ichakhali in Chittagong. The total area of ​​their fish farms in different upazilas including Mirsrai is about 40 thousand acres. Five lakh metric tons of carp fish are produced annually in these farms.

According to the locals, in the nineties, local resident Abul Khair, Md., started the first fish farming in this area. Mustafa, Mohammad Moni and Khokon. Later Kamrul Hossain, Farid Uddin, Kawsar Hamid, Mohammad Tauhidul Islam, Yunuch Mia, Naeem Uddin and Arif Hossain and many others joined this profession.

What the 'millionaire' fish farmers are saying
Muhammad Tauhidul Islam, a farmer of Osmanpur, who left his profession as an autorickshaw driver and joined fish farming, said that initially he farmed fish on one and a half acres of land. Within eight years the size of his farm stood at 300 acres. Excluding management expenses, his annual income is at least three crore rupees. Touhidul Islam told Prothom Alo, "There is no hesitation in saying that fish farming has changed my life. Earlier I was at the stage of running a life, now I can calculate crores of rupees. With the money from fish farming, I built a new house, built a cow farm, bought some land.

Tauhidul Islam also said that not only farmers benefited from fish farming. Hundreds of thousands of people have been employed as farm labourers, drivers, fish feed and medicine shops and fish sales. Due to the reduction of fish farming area in the area, the farmers here are building farms in other parts of the country. He urged the government to provide security and loan assistance to fish farmers.

Like Touhidul, another fish farmer, Mohammad Yunus Miar (36), lives in Banshkhali village of Osmanpur union. His fish farm is about 200 acres. About 15 workers work in the farm.

10 years ago, Yunus Miah started fish farming after leaving his job in a private company. Started with a seven acre fish farm. Yunus said, "Once I worked for a low salary. Now my fish farm has an annual turnover of 8 to 10 crore rupees.

Yunus said that the fish farm has made a big change in the financial condition of the people of Osmanpur Union. He said, "Almost the houses of this union now have paved houses. Those who have 20 to 30 acres of fish farms here are all millionaires. The number of people who have more than 50 acres of fish farms in the area is also several hundreds.

Yunus said, "Fish farming by the farmers here has now spread beyond the limits of Mirsarai to Noakhali Feni and various upazilas of Chittagong. But getting good quality fish feed is a big challenge for us now. Because, the food quality of many companies is not good. And now the price of fish food is increasing, compared to the rate, the price of fish is not increasing. This is also a big obstacle for us.

Faridul Islam, a resident of Patakot area of ​​the union, was an expatriate. After returning to the country 20 years ago, he started small-scale fish farming in his area. Now he owns a 400 acre farm. Apart from the fish farm, he is also a fish feed distributor for a large company. When asked, this farmer told Prothom Alo, "Fish farming has changed our fate." Money-honor gave everything. I myself earn a few crores of rupees from fish farming every year. He said, "A large part of the demand for freshwater fish in the country is now supplied from Mirsarai. We want the price of fish feed to be stable and the fish produced to have a fair price in the market.

As much production as Osmanpur Mirsarai Upazila Senior Fisheries Officer Arifur Rahman said that the fish farmers of Osmanpur Union of Mirsarai Upazila cultivate fish in 15 thousand acres in their area. Apart from this, they are associated with fish farming in another 25 thousand acres area in various upazilas around.

He said, 'Farmers here use good quality feed from different companies. Farmers in Osmanpur Union can produce 10 to 12 tonnes of tilapia and carp per acre by adopting high density farming methods. According to that, 1 lakh 80 thousand metric ton month is produced every year in Muhuri project area. Apart from this, there is fish production in other upazilas.

Mirsarai Upazila Senior Fisheries Officer Arifur Rahman also said that the fish cultivated in the Muhuri project area is safe and tasty due to the use of good quality feed. He said, "I visited many times and saw that there are many big fish farmers in Osmanpur Union. There are hundreds of fish farmers who have become millionaires from nothing. We provide all kinds of cooperation in applying modern technology to their fish farming.