Balasore's Agro-Fishing Dynamics: Challenges & Prospects

Low developed regions: Except yield rate, Oupada is lagging behind in all the components (Fig 6.13).

There are number of factors that hamper the agricultural development of the district. Some of these factors are less manageable like rainfall, traditional thinking, physiographical constraints but application of alternate irrigation facility like drip irrigation, uniform subsidy to the farmers in drought and flood affected years and proper land utilization can improve the status of agriculture.

Land capability and Agricultural development:

If the aspect of development is analyzed keeping in mind the land resource then the land

Land capability and agricultural development can be considered as the most important factor related with the sustainable rural economy especially in an agro based rural economy.

Pearson's product moment has been calculated between the land capability index as the independent variable and rank coefficient of agricultural development parameter as the dependent variable. The regression value has been calculated between LCI and Agricultural Development Index at a 95% level of significance the relation shows its significance.

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The regression value is 0.86 and the p value is 0.00036, degree of freedom is 11 and the result is significant at 99% as the p value is less than 0.001.

Fishing

Fishery is another pivotal economic sector of the state as well as the district economy. It is not only a source of animal protein but also a popular economic activity in a coastal district like Balasore. Because it generates a remunerative, stable income than agriculture, a number of villagers are getting involved in this activity. The unemployed rural youth are getting a significant opportunity to earn money without migrating elsewhere.

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Previously, the occupation was limited to 'Keuta' sub-caste of Scheduled Caste category but the continuous remunerative earning has attracted all other castes. It is obvious that a long 80 km coastal line provides enormous opportunity for marine fishing. But the district also has enormous inland and brackish water resources suitable for inland fishing.

The fishing of the district may be broadly classified into three categories i.e. a) Marine b) Inland fresh water c) Brackish water. Balasore district is rich in all three forms of fishing as it possesses 80 km of coast line with 538 sq km of continental shelf. The coastal villages of blocks Bhograi, Baliapal, Balasore, Remuna and Bahanaga practise fishing. Twelve landing bases located in the coastal blocks of the district are - Talasari, Kirtania, Kankadapal, Choumukh, Hanskara, Bahabalpur, Chandipur, Mahisali, Khandia, Jamuca, Gadeisagar and Panchubisa. As per information provided by the Assistant Director of Fisheries, Marine there are 290 fishing villages located in the marine sector consisting of 14704 families with 115931 population up to 2012. There are 40923 males and 39928 females and the number of children are 35070. Among the total males 25687 are active fishermen i.e. almost 60.77% and rest are engaged as part time fishermen (Manual1, Assistant Director of Fishing, Balasore, 2012). Five marine extension units working in the district are Chandaneswar, Bahabalpur, Chandipur, Baliapal,and Gopalpur (Fig.6.11). There are almost 1672 number of registered fishing boats in operation under different landing bases of the coast, covering different categories namely Trawler, Gillnetter, Motorized and Country Crafts for fishing .In 2009-10 the number was 2213.

Among these blocks, Balasore Sadar is mostly advanced in marine fishing. Continuous demands of marine fishes in foreign countries and other states have encouraged development of fishing harbors in some specific locations. Among them Balramgadi in Balasore plays a significant role. Except this, Kharasahapur, Maharudrapur, Chaumukh, Udaipur, Talsari, Kasafal are locally known standard fishing spots (Fig.6.14). Except this, coastal belt fishing is done at a small scale to supply the local market, and for consumption. The villages located along the coast engage in fishing beside cultivation. But in many cases agriculture holds a passive role in the economy. As the lands are salt effected in the coastal parts of Balasore, Remuna, Baliapal, Bahanaga so the lands are used as the water tanks or 'Bheries' to cultivate salt water fishes like lobster, bhetki , etc inducing a change of land use. However the Orissa Fishing Act plays its own role in legislative control over fishing.

Marine fishing: The history of marine fishing of Balasore district is enriched form the time period when present Bhadrak district was a part of it. At that time there was 130 km coastline of Balasore. In The District Gazetteer of Balasore it is informed that in 1981 a survey conducted by Fisheries Department revealed that the district had 84000 fishermen populations. But after the division of Bhadrak and Balasore, this figure has reduced and the coastline also has become 81 km. In 1962 first mechanized fishing was introduced (Behuria, 1992) and traditional cotton twine for making fishing net was replaced by nylon. This also helped a lot to develop the marine fish production. Some steps have also been implemented to develop marine fisheries -

  1. Establishment of ice plants and cold storages and speedy mechanism for fishing with the help of institutional finance and availability of subsidy.
  2. Better harbouring facility including mooring and repairing.
  3. Operating new trawlers and gill netters at Chandipur with a research on the diversification of fishing method.
  4. Establishment of co-operative society to deal with mechanized fishing.

With the help of these steps the production of marine fishes has increased. As Chandipur is an eminent port for fishing, the Fisheries Department has constructed an ice plant for the private fishermen at a reasonable cost. A concrete 'T' jetty with approach road, diesel, outlet and drinking water facility was constructed at a cost of Rs. 15 lakhs at Chandipur with funds provided by Government of India. This was a landing base for mechanized and traditional vessels. But the jetty is not used by the fishermen as they find it more convenient for landing their fish in the traditional fishing base at Balaramgadi," (Behuria, 1992). However maximum production of fish of this district comes from marine fisheries.

On an average 34048 metric tons of fish/year have been produced with only 8.35% of variabilityduring1994-2011 period. Though the production is quite impressive but this is not consumed by the locals as maximum of the production is used for export purpose. Among the blocks, only Balasore Sadar block has sufficient infrastructure. In Balramgadi, Chandipur, dry fish producing and packaging is done significantly. The progress of marine fishing is mainly concentrated in Bahanaga, Balasore, Bhograi, Remuna and Baliapal blocks (Fig.6.15). Among these four blocks variability of the production is low, only 11.48% and 11.84% respectively for Baliapal and Bhograi blocks (Fig 6.16).But for Balasore and Bahanaga blocks it is 21.44 % and 25.33% respectively. The villagers mainly go for two types of practice- private and as a fisherman identified from Marine Department. According to them the fisherman who works for marine department gets an identity card and 20kgs of rice per head.

Marine fishing provides different types of earning opportunities. Due to the vast extent and mechanized nature, a number of persons of local and other villages get involved. Due to the traditional thinking and also to secure food, many remain cultivators. But in regions where ample opportunity of fishing exists, it becomes the first priority. Marine fishing provides huge turnover if done properly. Balaramgadi, Chaumukh, Kashafal, Talsari are well known port sites for fishing related with massive turnover. Among these, Balramgadi of Chandipur mainly provides the fish production that is exported. According to an official source- from Balramgadi annual turnover from marine fishing is almost Rs.3 crores and fishes worth almost 100 to 150 crores are exported each year (Prameya news, 2016). During field survey in 2012 the similar statementDepartment. According to them the fisherman who works for marine department gets an identity card and 20kgs of rice per head.

From the trawler owners has been received but they have stated that the annual turnover from marine fishing is around 1.5 to 3 crores. A trawler owner can earn up to 50 lakhs per annum even when fishing is not possible during 4 months of the rainy season. The different jobs or occupational involvement that directly influences the livelihood are

  • As worker in the trawler or fisherman or boy: This is the best available option for the villagers. The employed fisher boy gets Rs 4000/- monthly salary from the trawler owner. In Balramgadi port almost 507 trawlers are working and numbers of persons are working as fisher boys mainly from the nearby villages of Chandipur, Parikhi, Majhisahi, Srikona and Pongta.
  • As worker in the ice plant: Many of the workers work in the ice plants. Ice is required for preserving the fishes. The trawlers collect the ice from the ice cutter plant before leaving for fishing. The workers are engaged in the work against a fixed wage. In the four months that fishing is stopped, the workers either migrate or go for any other job.

Dry fish production: This is a most popular job in the region. In Balramgadi region almost all the villagers are engaged in production of dry fish. Various fishes are collected either from 'Bheries' or from marine fishing and left on bamboo benches or hung from a bamboo made row or platform until they get sun dried. These sun dried fishes are profitable. Different fish species like lote or Bombay duck (Harpadon nehereus), Bhetki(Lates calcarifer), Bhola (Johnius belengeri), Parse ( Liza parsia), prawn, and many others are sundried, packed and marketed. All these fishes are sold at a rate of Rs150/- per kg on an average. These sundried fishes are mainly sold at the local markets or other block markets. The most important feature is the participation of women in the field. The village women are fully involved from dressing to the end product.

A numbers of stages are followed from the collection to the production of the final product. After collecting the fish the workers are advised to dress up the fish. For dressing up one tub of fish (approximately 7 kg) the women labourers get Rs 15/- and in one week they can dress up 20 tubs of fish. Hence, they can earn almost Rs 300 /- weekly. The participation of women in this field is quite significant. (Singh.A, et al, 2013). As per the Technical Bulletin-25(2013) entitled 'Socio-economic Status of Coastal Fisherwomen Involved in Fisheries Post-harvest', women work participation in the fisheries sector is as follows "In fisheries, the post-harvest sector provides maximum employment to women.

Every 5 kg of fish produced provided employment for 2 persons - one in active fishing and one in postharvest sector. About 5lakh women are employed in pre and post-harvest operations in the marine fisheries sector alone in the total work force of 12 1akh persons. The involvement of fisherwomen in the fishery related activities provides additional income to their family. But the income they are getting is not always the same as compared to the wages that men get for the same work'. Among the marine products, dry fish is most profitable. The relatively poor villagers also prepare dry fish for their consumption and primary sale. Generally they collect small fishes and shrimps and dry them on the metalled road for a number of days. Usually two types of dried fishes are produced. These are normal dried fish and salted dried fish. Normal dried fish are more common. The harbour environment and windblown sands lower the quality of the fish (Fig6.17).

Fish vending: Normally fish vending is also a profitable business. The FLC or the Fish Landing Centers are the hub of this business (Fig.6.18). After catching fish from the nearest marine location a group of fishermen collect the fish in the FLC. The local businessmen come to the spot for auction. According to the auction they buy fish and sell to the local market. A number of farmers directly sell the fish.

Value added products: With marine fishing, value added products like fish cutlets, fish fingers, pickles may be produced and supplied to earn significant amount of money as in Udaypur and Talsari coasts. The different fresh fish, crabs are bought by the local fishermen and their wives then the fish are prepared and sold according to the requirements of tourists. The fish and its products are sold even in Digha (West Bengal), the nearest tourist spot with substantial number of tourists.

Total gathering of fish: Balasore district has enormous potential for marine fishing. Bahabalpur, Talasari and Chandipur are important fish landing centers and produce significant quantity of fishes. The district has almost 80250 MT productions potential and at current leve seasons are present - a) August to October b) November to February. Normally the following fish are caught:

Updated: Nov 30, 2023
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Balasore's Agro-Fishing Dynamics: Challenges & Prospects. (2019, Nov 23). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/low-developed-regions-essay

Balasore's Agro-Fishing Dynamics: Challenges & Prospects essay
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