More than 4,000 Shrimp farms in Paikgachha upazila of the coastal district Khulna may be blocked any time due to manifold problems including technical support.
According to local sources, although the upazila holds a prominent name for shrimp production, the sector insiders here are mainly facing difficulties for want of necessary equipment to detect various diseases of the fish.
The farmers as well as officials of the Upazila Fisheries Department have to face trouble for unavailability of Polymer Chain Reaction (PCR) machine, used to diagnose viral and other diseases of shrimp.
Farmers said the nearest PCR machine for them was the one installed by the District Fisheries Department in Satkhira, and to avail service from there also, they have to spend as much as Tk1,000.
Besides, dearth of other technical facilities is also hampering growth of the industry.
For want of diagnosis of the diseases, a lot of shrimps die every year, forcing the farmers to count heavy losses.
The farmers started shrimp cultivation in the 80s in the saline water of the upazila.
However, shrimp farming saw a boost in the upazila within a few years as it was more profitable than farming of any agricultural corps.
According to the District Fisheries Department, some 5,000 tonnes of shrimp are produced every year in some 4,000 enclosures on 20,000 hectares of land in the upazila.
Several thousand residents of the upazila are earning their livelihood being directly or indirectly involved in the industry.
Although the sector has a substantial role in growth of the country’s economy through export, the farmers are struggling with the want of proper technical assistance.
They are forced to use the traditional methods for shrimp farming instead of the modern ones.
Shrimp cultivator Abdul Haque said if there was a machine to detect virus, they could know weather the shrimp fries were affected with disease before preserving those.
ASM Rasel, senior fisheries officer of the upazila, said : “As there is no PCR machine in the upazila, the farmers have to assume that their shrimps have died following attack by some viral disease.”
Recent flood water and heavy downpour also hampered the farming.
Already 550 enclosure had been washed away leaving the farmers in critical situation.
Some farmers told the Dhaka Tribune that they need govt help to recover the loss this year.
Abdul Haque said he had requested the higher authorities to install a PCR machine in the upazila and providing subsidy.
