The cash starved national cooperative federation of fishermen FISCOPFED is making all-out efforts to get out of the red by diversifying its activities, said its MD B K Mishra.
The financial situation of the Fishcopfed has changed as the govt is yet to take a call on the service charges it has been paying to the Fishcopfed for insurance schemes of fishermen. The cooperative body, perhaps the lone among the govt-aided, has complied data of 18 thousand cooperative societies with exhaustive details.
We have to give salaries and the govt grant is not just enough; we have to manage till our insurance service charges pending for 4 years arrive, said an optimistic Mishra.
Meanwhile, the Fishcopfed has launched marketing of CIFAX-a fish medicine developed by ICAR. The marketing of this product has a huge potential and MD is confident of tackling the financial problems for the beleaguered body in four years.
“We have set a target of ten thousand liter for this year. The whole of country needs above one lakh liter per anum. You need just one liter for one hectare; the medicine is quite powerful as it has been developed by ICAR”, underlined Mishra.
The Fischopfed has secured the exclusive agency to sell Cifax in the states of Odisha, Assam and Maharashtra. But we can sell it in other parts of the country as well, he added.
Costing Rs 1700 per liter Fishcopfed is offering a discount upto 20% to member societies. The story of Cifax is interesting in the sense that though it has been developed by ICAR and is being manufactured by a private company in Chhattisgarh, the govt made no road-map of its marketing.
Entry of the Fishcopfed in this field with its huge membership is sure to give a boost to its popularity. Cifax fights disease and improves the quality of water leading to robust growth of fish, stated Mishra.
