Pisciculture brings good days for landless Harun
The hard days are gone. He has changed his life and now dreams of affluence.
He is grateful to officials of the Patuakhali Barguna Aquaculture Extension Project (PBAEP) for their advice and cooperation.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. His mini hatchery earned him about Tk 50,000 this year from sale of fish fry.
He inherited only the homestead with a ditch in front of his house in Hazipur village under Kalapara upazila. Like others, he had left school while in class V1.
Weary of futile attempts to change life through other vocations, one day, in December 2000, 25 year-old Harun went to Kalapara upazila PBAEP office out of curiosity and talked to officials.
The advised him to start a mini hatchery in his ditch and offered technical assistance.
They visited his pond and asked him to take two days' short training. After the training, he took Tk 5,000 loan from ASA, an NGO.
In January 2001, Harun collected some mother carp fishes from ponds in the village and released those in his ditch.
In the next breeding season, the mother fishes released spawns. Fries were produced from the spawns with the help of PBAEP men.
He sold over one lakh fries and earned a profit of Tk 50,000.
It was a miracle for Harun. He repaid the loan and bought a land with Tk 20,000, a cow with Tk 6,000, a pump machine with Tk 7,000. He invested rest of the money to build a mini hatchery.
This year, his carps released about 20 kilograms of spawns, which produced several lakh fries.
So far, he sold Tk 40,000 fries. He hopes to earn more Tk one lakh from fries during the current season.
PBAEP high official also visited his hatchery.
They also taught him how to keep fries alive for long in polythene bags filled with water and oxygen. His fries are carried to distant areas now. Harun says unemployment problem in the country can be removed to a great extent if youths take to fishery and other vocations in rural areas.
Talking to this correspondent recently, Training Co-ordinator of PBAEP Abul Kalam Azad said nine mini hatcheries have been set up in Patuakhali and Barguna since the PBAEP was launched in1998. Some more are in the offing as youths are becoming interested in the profitable business. Of those, three are in Kalapara, two in Bauphal and one each in Dumki, Galachipa and Barguna.