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Researcher: Professor Md Rahmatullah
The indigenous variety of Anabas testudineus (Bengali-koi),
Heteropneustes fossilis (Bengali-singhi), and Clarias
batrachus (Bengali-magur) is traditionally very popular
with Bengalis and the soil and climate of Bangladesh
is very favourable for the cultivation of these varieties.
There is a great demand for these varieties in the local
market and the price is also high. If fingerlings of
these varieties could be made easily available, poor
families could cultivate them for income generation,
to improve their livelihood and also to fulfill their
nutritional needs. The cultivation of these varieties
is not that difficult since they require only small
ponds or ditches, which are commonly available in poor
rural homesteads. However the scarcity of fingerlings
is a serious impediment to the expansion of cultivation
of these varieties. Although Bangladesh Fishery Research
Institute (BFRI) has conducted a number of researches
in this regard, the results have remained limited within
the institutional periphery. The researcher wants to
address the following objectives: a) to develop an appropriate
technology (mini hatchery) for induced (artificial)
breeding of these varieties; b) to develop a strategy
for the transfer of this technology to the rural poor;
and c) to find an appropriate strategy for income generation
of the rural poor through cultivation of these varieties
in small ponds and ditches. A participatory research
methodology involving the rural poor in the development
of the technology will be followed. Success of this
technology is expected to lead to the large-scale production
of fingerlings, ensuring easy availability, to encourage
farmers to adopt this culture for their own benefit.
Widespread adoption of this technology will also save
these varieties from extinction. The site of the experiment
is in Gazipur district, about 40 km away from the capital
city, Dhaka.
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