STRUCTURE

• Introduction – What is blue revolution (15 words)          
• Body – Explain the features and outcome of blue revolution in enhancement of food production (220 words)
• Conclusion – Mention a short conclusion  (15 words)

ANSWER

The Blue Revolution (Nili Kranti) is an initiative taken by the government for the growth of the aquaculture industry. It started in China as it accounts for around two-thirds of the total aquaculture production worldwide.

Some of the salient features of the Blue Revolution Scheme are:

• Providing suitable linkages and convergence with the ‘Sagarmala Project’ of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGA), Ministry of Shipping, National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), etc.
• The Blue Revolution scheme concentrates mainly on enhancing the production and productivity of aquaculture and fisheries both from the inland and marine sources.
• Promoting and encouraging the economically backward sections like the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Women, and their co-operatives to take up fishing.
• The Blue Revolution Scheme also encourages entrepreneurship development, private investment, Public-Private Partnership (PPP), and better leveraging of institutional finance.

Some of the major outcomes of the Blue Revolution in India are mentioned below:

• Currently, the Indian Fisheries Sector reached a production of 4.7 million tonnes of fish including 1.6 million tonnes of fish from freshwater aquaculture from a limit of 60,000 tonnes (50 years ago)
• India is recorded to achieve an average annual growth of 14.8% as compared to the global average percentage of 7.5 in the production of fish and fish products.
• The fishery has become India’s largest agricultural export over the last five years with a growth rate of 6% – 10%.
• India has become the world’s second-largest producer of fish with exports worth more than 47,000 crore rupees.
• The fisheries and aquaculture production contributes 1% and 5% to India’s GDP and Agricultural GDP respectively.