The Blue Revolution is part of the government’s efforts to promote fishing as an allied activity for farmers in order to double their incomes. It refers to an explosive growth in the aquaculture industry. As part of its efforts to raise seafood output and exports and promote sustainable aquaculture, the government has constituted an independent Ministry for Fisheries. Setting up a separate department for fisheries in the Union government is significant, as fisheries are the primary source of livelihood for several communities. In the 2019–20 budget, the government has allocated ` 3,737 crore for the new ministry.
Understanding the immense scope for development of fisheries and aquaculture, the Government of India has restructured the Central Plan Scheme under an umbrella of Blue Revolution. The restructured central sector scheme on Blue Revolution, Integrated Development and Management of Fisheries (CSS), that has been approved by the government provides for a focused development and management of the fisheries.
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The term ‘Blue Revolution’ refers to a rapid increase in the production of fish and marine products through a package programme. It first began in China, which accounts for around two-thirds of the total aquaculture production worldwide by weight and roughly half by market size. This is a time of intense growth of the worldwide aquaculture industry—from the mid-1960s to the present day. The aquaculture industry has been growing at an average rate of 9 per cent annually, with India being one of the fastest growers.
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The government has come out with a ‘New National Policy on Marine Fisheries’ to deal with problems facing the fisheries and aquaculture. The new policy provides guidance for promoting ‘Blue Growth Initiative’ which focuses on ushering the ‘Blue Revolution’. It talks of introducing deep-sea fishing vessels and assisting fishing communities to convert their vessels and gears for the waters beyond. It envisages intensive fish farming through increased stocking of seed, better feed quality, and diversification of species. Innovative practices such as re-circulatory aquaculture system aim to realise the goal of more crop per drop.
Neel Kranti (Blue Revolution) Plan The main focus of the plan is to triple the country’s earnings from fish exports. It aims at increasing fish production by 50 per cent to 15.2 million tonnes and tripling the export earnings through the same to ` 1 lakh crore by the year 2020. The scheme has adopted a two-pronged approach: sustainable capture fishery to harness marine and inland water resources and expanding the horizon of fish farming through increased coverage, enhanced productivity, species diversification, and better market returns.
The Neel Kranti Mission will have multi-dimensional approach to all activities concerned with development of the fisheries sector as a modern world-class industry in India. It will focus on tapping the full production potential and substantially enhance productivity from aquaculture and fisheries resources, both inland and marine. It will ensure doubling the income of the fishers and fish farmers with inclusive participation of the socio-economically weaker sections and ensure sustainability with environment and biosecurity. The key goal would be to substantially increase the share of Indian fisheries in the export market.
The investment of ` 3,000 crore in the Blue Revolution is being supplemented through the ` 7,523-crore Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF). This will meet the capital investment requirement of this sector.
Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) The government has made it clear that the ‘Blue Revolution’ or ‘Neel Kranti’ has the potential to help India attain the first place in the world in fish production. In this direction, the government proposed the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) in July 2019 while presenting the Union Budget 2019 to establish a robust fisheries management framework and check gaps in the value chain. It includes schemes such as food parks, food safety, and infrastructure. The objective of the scheme is to supplement or increase agriculture, modernise processing and decrease agricultural waste, and to utilise the potential in the fishery sector.
The new Blue Revolution is an achievable target. But if the lessons from the first Blue Revolution between 1987 and 1997 are not learnt, then the new Blue Revolution can become counterproductive. The Blue Revolution 2.0 will succeed only if its growth revolves around sustainable forms of aquaculture.
The Fisheries Sector The fisheries sector is growing at 7 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR). With this growth, the target of doubling the income of farmers by 2022 will be realised. In India, more than 14 million people are employed in the fisheries sector directly or indirectly. With an increasing labour force, the fisheries sector looks promising enough to accommodate the labour force.
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India has over 8,000 km of coastline, 4 mha of reservoirs, 2 mha of brackish water, and nearly 51,000 sq km of continental shelf area that offers a plethora of opportunities for the growth of marine and fish industry of India.
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India is the world’s second-largest fish producer with exports worth more than ` 47,000 crore. Fisheries are the country’s single-largest agriculture export, with a growth rate of 6 to 10 per cent in the past five years. Its significance is underscored by the fact that the growth rate of the farm sector in the same period is around 2.5 per cent. The ‘fisheries and aquaculture sector’ is recognised as the sunshine sector in Indian agriculture. It stimulates the growth of a number of subsidiary industries and is the source of livelihood for a large section of economically backward population, especially fishermen, of the country. It helps in increasing food supply, generating adequate employment opportunities, and raising nutritional level. It has a huge export potential and is a big source of foreign exchange earnings for the country. Being a state subject, the development of the fishery sector mainly rests with the state governments.
In the face of continued uncertainties in the global seafood trade, India has been able to cling on to its position as a leading supplier of frozen shrimp and frozen fish in international markets. The fisheries sector export rose 19.1 per cent in 2017–18, compared to 2016 (earning $7.08 billion against $5.77 in 2016–17). At present, the world production is 171 million tonnes, and by 2025, it would be around 250 million tonnes. More than 100 countries taste Indian seafood, so the demand for Indian seafood will also increase. more than 60 per cent of fish production at present comes from inland aquaculture.
Blue Revolution addressing challenges in Fisheries and Aquaculture The Blue Revolution is set to address a number of challenges in the fisheries sector and in aquaculture. Like many countries, India’s fisheries sector faces the challenge of sustainability. The Food and Agriculture Organisation’s State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture reports note that nearly 90 per cent of the global marine fish stocks have either been fully exploited or over-fished or depleted to an extent that recovery may not be biologically possible. In order to meet the ever-increasing demand for animal protein, global fish production should touch 196 million tonnes by 2025—it currently stands at 171 million tonnes. But India has the potential to bridge this gap provided it concentrates on aquaculture—fish farming. The country has a comparative advantage in this respect. It has a marine fisher population of 3.5 million; 10.5 million people are engaged in inland fishery and fish farming.
Though, the performance of this sector in India is impressive when one compares it with the average growth of the fisheries sector all over the world, the productivity in both sectors—marine farming and fishery farming—is low in terms of per fisher, per boat, and per farm. In Norway, a fisherman/farmer catches/produces 250 kg per day, while the Indian average is 4–5 kg.
India’s aquaculture sector, however, has the potential to upstage China and, in the process, create greater employment opportunities, increase the volume of exports, strengthen the rural economy, and contribute substantially to the country’s GDP. But, to raise its game, India will need fresh strategies or rather a master plan for this important sector. The plan should lay special thrust on increasing productivity in inland fisheries along with full utilisation of the country’s deep-sea fishing potential.
It is true that China has the innate advantage of more than twice the coastal line of India and has larger areas of inland water resources and reservoirs. But that should not deter India because it has one of the largest Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) areas of over 2 million sq km compared to China’s 0.88 million sq km. The development of EEZ calls for new systems and large-scale deployment of offshore aquaculture activities of high-value species. Ocean ranching is one area which will yield rich social dividends, without damaging the ecosystem.
India also needs a single uniform national data on marine fisheries because authentic data truly reflect ground realities which, in turn, help in efficient planning for the future.
Technology use is an important aspect. China has already brought in 5G technology to its offshore aquaculture activities to increase output and promote tourism. A few dedicated satellites for the management of fisheries is a prime requirement. Further, stringent laws and their enforcement ensuring habitat protection should be part of the 2030 Master Plan, as also a quality policy protecting the names of specific species uniquely linked to the country’s geography using geographical indication (GI).
India’s approach to inland fisheries too needs a dynamic policy shift because the sector continues to suffer from under-utilisation and poor yield stemming from traditional fish culture practices. For better utilisation of our coastal, brackish, and inland resources, India needs to create broodstock banks for the diversification of cultivable species. It also needs to introduce cost-effective open-pond re-circulatory system and integrated multi-tropic, multi-species farming. Biosecurity, aqua-mimicry and biofloc are other innovative aquaculture practices which can be put into use to achieve higher yields at reduced cost.
Farm upgradation and automation using AI/IOT, instrumentation, sensors, underwater telemetry, and other cyber-physical systems of production are important for the industry.
Nutritional Support According to global nutrition report, 38 per cent of children under age 5 are stunted, 21 per cent children are wasted, and India has the highest rate of anaemia among women. Consumption of fish is the key to good health. It is especially crucial for women during pregnancy and lactation. The so-called 1,000-day window from pregnancy to the child’s second birthday promotes a child’s proper physical and mental development. The nutrients in fish promote optimal brain development, regulate the immune system, and build healthy bones.
The country should also look at the cultivation of macro and microalgae since these require limited space. Growing at 10 times the rate of terrestrial plants, algae matures quickly and results in a comparatively higher yield. Additionally, the nutritional value of algae supports its potential use as a main ingredient in feeds. This will take away the dependence on fish meal for production of animal feeds.
Increased area of cultivation and yield is one thing, while product marketing is another. Achieving the former would be of no use if the products are not market-ready. It, therefore, demands importance on processing and value addition. Currently, India does value addition only to a negligible 10 per cent of the total catch while the rest is sold as a commodity, susceptible to the exploitation of the primary producers by the middlemen.
Logistics Food processing and marketing cannot become complete in the absence of logistics. A robust logistics support requires complementary infrastructural facilities like cold chain and storage facilities to handle peak harvests.
Processing The fish industry utilises only one per cent of the total cold storage capacity available in the country today. Further, while three-fourths of fish harvested in India is marketed in fresh form, there is a strong need for the cold chain industry to come up with innovative and cost-effective transportation and storage facilities to ensure supply of superior products to the consumer. Creation of cold chains can help reduce spoilage losses which are currently at 30–35 per cent. Marketing infrastructure and cloud-based market intelligence should also be put in place.
Though initiatives are being made, the key challenges need to be focused upon. Lack of accurate data on assessment of fishery resources and their potential in terms of fish production, slow development of sustainable technologies for fin and shell fish culture, low yield optimisation, harvest and post-harvest operations, landing and berthing facilities for fishing vessels, and the welfare of fishermen are also significant issues to be addressed.
If these issues are properly addressed, the ‘Blue Revolution 2.0 may be a major game changer in Indian economy.