Kathmandu, December 8, 2006

Experts on fish farming yesterday said that there is a high demand of rainbow trout and its extended farming could help the country fetch foreign currencies.

“Extension of the rainbow trout farming in different parts of the country can fetch foreign currencies,” said Dr Tek Bahadur Gurung, chief of the Fisheries Development Division (FDD), Godavari. Addressing an interaction organised by the FDD with support from JICA, Dr Gurung said Nepal is in a transitional phase in terms of rainbow trout production and the FDD is preparing to extend its services in different parts of the country.

Director of Livestock and Fisheries Research at Nepal Agriculture Research Council (NARC) Shambhu Bahadur Pandey said it is essential to explore both national and international market for the agricultural products in the new political set up.

He said farmers should be involved in any project related to them. Gagan Bahadur Nhuchhe Pradhan of Fisheries Development Directorate pointed out that there is a shortage of fingerlings for extending rainbow trout farming.

“We need to develop farmer-to-farmer extension of fingerlings by decentralising the fingerling stock,” he said. Experts and farmers present during the interaction said there is no dearth of market for trout fish as it is readily consumed in the big hotels.

Besides, there is a high demand from abroad including Singapore, Thailand and India.

Construction in main Kailali camp over

Construction at the main cantonment site for Maoist fighters at Taalband in Kailali district has been completed.

However, construction work in three sub-camps in the district is on. “Bunkers, posts and tents are in place in the main camp now,” Maoists’ seventh division commander Prajjwal said.

Potable water has been arranged for, while personnel of the Maoists’ People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have themselves dug out a 10kmlong road leading to the camp, he said. He added electricity would be brought in the camp in a few days.

Although tents have been set up at a sub-camp at Sallebung in Sahajpur village development committee-9, construction of bunkers, posts and a road is underway.

At least a 3-km-long road is yet to be constructed that would lead to the sub-camp located in the jungles, some 6km away from Sahajpur Bazaar, Prajwal said, adding that work to arrange for potable water and electricity in the sub-camp is on.

Construction at subcamps at Gorange in Baliya VDC and Badaipur in Masuriya VDC of the district is also underway. The subcamps have facilities like electricity, drinking water and road as they lie along Mahendra Highway.

However, they lack communication facility.

Altogether 10,000 PLA personnel are putting up in four camps, with each camp housing 2,500 fighters, Prajjwal said. He said preparations are over for the verification process to be started by the UN.