Mubashir Aalam Wani
Srinagar, May 29: Mudassir Ahmad Khan (24) soon after completing his graduation in fisheries science, has been desiring to set up his own business.
From trying out his hand in horticulture to the hospitality sector, nothing worked for him since he wanted to do something out of the box.
It was when he thought of utilizing his knowledge about fisheries sciences and took fish farming as his profession.
Two years of his reunion with the fisheries science fetched him enough revenue given his expansion of two units.
“This was probably the profession I was made for. During these two years, I gained some experience from the seniors and the department and utilized it to grow my farm. I had a very good business last year,” he said.
Khan is being followed by many aspiring entrepreneurs in Baramulla who too imbibed his strategy to set up their fish farms.
“I have two farms- a carp and a trout farm. I sell them to the dealers in various markets of Baramulla district. Now, many youth have set up their fish farms to earn a good sum out of the business,” he said.
Pertinently, fish production in Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed a substantial surge, courtesy expansion of the farming throughout the union territory.
According to the data, the production of fish in Kashmir has increased by 5840 tons, generating 366.12 lakhs of revenue in the last four years. The production of trout has increased from 598 tons in 2019 to 1990 tons during the financial year 2022-23.
An official from the fishes department said that fish farming was getting popular among youth in Jammu and Kashmir. “We have witnessed that the majority of the educated youth have been taking fish farming as their profession. They are getting assistance from the department in the form of incentives and expertise to set up their successful ventures in their respective districts,” he said.
The official said the number of private fish units established in the private sector have increased to more than 2,300 in 2022-23.
