Patna, Sep 10 (IANS): The launch of the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) on Thursday will help villagers in remote villages standing at the end of the queue, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Thursday.

Kumar pointed out that the agriculture and fishries department have jointly conducted surveys and made provisions for digging ponds in areas known for water accumulation. The clay extracted from these ponds is shifted to the other side to raise the ground level. This exercise is important keeping in view that water accumulates every year in flood-ravaged districts during the monsoon season and remains there for the next few months.

This year, again, floods have affected 16 districts of the state. In these districts, farming is next to impossible.

"We are achieving two goals through the implementation of the PMMSY. It will help in fishries production by using ponds, as well as help farmers utilise the remaining land for agricultural purposes," Kumar said.

Besides, the state government has also made provisions through installation of solar plants on ponds to generate electricity followed by its distribution for houses in rural areas," Kumar said.

Kumar said as many as 89 per cent people in the state reside in rural areas and 76 per cent of them are directly or indirectly involved in agriculture.

The launch of public welfare schemes by the Centre in the run-up to elections is significant keeping in view the sizeable rural vote bank.

"We have also pointed out to the 9 lakh hectare land affected with the menace of nilgai (blue bull)," CM said. He said the the population of blue bull in Bihar was growing rapidly. Since the animals destroy crops on a massive scale, the Bihar government has made provisions to help farmers keep them at bay through plantation of lemon grass and Khus grass around farms.

On the occasion, deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi said that the production of fisheries in the state has jumped to 33 thousands metric tonne in Bihar.

Union Minister for Fisheries Giriraj Singh said there was enormous potential in Bihar as far as the fisheries industry was concerned.

"Unfortunately, only Rs 3700 crore were invested in this sector in the period from 1947 to 2014. Since the NDA government came to power, we have already invested 26,000 crore," He said.