Home ›› 02 Feb 2023 ›› Nation
Ornamental fish farming has become a dependable means of bolstering entrepreneurship as many youths have transformed themselves into successful entrepreneurs after the best uses of the potential sector in Rajshahi region during the last couple of years.
Nahid Hasan, 23, a resident of Afipara village under Paba upazila in the district, has become an icon in the field of farming and rearing ornamental fish together with making him financially solvent.
He understood the fact of making his business profitable and sustainable after the best uses of modern technologies which turned him into a successful entrepreneur.
A third-year honours student in the Department of Botany at Rajshahi Government City College, Hasan began his venture in 2019. Initially, he brought five pairs of Guppy fish at a cost of Tk 500 and kept them in a small pot. The fishes give birth to some fry.
Now, he is operating a medium-level ornamental fish farm by applying the bio floc method successfully.
He has around 5,000 fishes of different pieces, including white platinum moli, Swordtail black mould, Montail white mould, White balloon molly, Montail black mould, Gabi, Dambu Mosaic, Red Toxic and Angles, at present.
Nahid said he sells a pair of Montail at Tk 250-300, black molly Tk 80-120, swordtail Tk 100-150, dump mosaic guppy Tk 300-350 and goldfish Tk 300-350 on average.
He has been earning around Tk 10,000-12,000 per month on average for the last couple of months raising his assets to worth around Tk two lakh.
Explaining the profit being obtained from the business he said demands for their fish are gradually mounting as many of the fancy people are seen as interested in rearing ornamental fishes in aquariums and other tubs in residents and business places.
Before this, Nahid imparted capacity-building training on various need-oriented issues, including good aquaculture practice, feeding techniques and safe input uses, post-harvest management and environment-friendly handling, for making his business successful.
A demonstration tank was also set on his small ornamental fish farm. He was given support with the intervention of the Sustainable Enterprise Project (SEP).
Ashrai, a non-government development organisation, has been implementing the SEP in Paba and Mohanpur upazila of Rajshahi and Sadar upazila of Chapainawabganj districts supported by Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) and World Bank.
Apart from Nahid, 250 other youths have become successful in this field with interventions of the SEP.
SEP Documentation Officer Syed Tanvir Islam said that substantial and sustainable promotion of climate-resilient farming can be an effective means of boosting fish production by facing the adverse impact of climate change in the region.
For the last couple of years, conventional fish farming has been affected due to the climate change impact in the region, including its vast Barind tract. So, there is a need to promote climate-resilient fish farming to meet the gradually mounting protein demands.
