Minister for Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries Seediri Appalaraju said that the State government aims to increase the per capita consumption of seafood in the State to 18-21 kg by way of selling at least 30% (equivalent to 15 lakh tonnes) of aqua produce within the State through the Fish Andhra initiative.
Mr. Appalaraju, along with Commissioner of Fisheries K. Kanna Babu and Paytm chief business officer (Payments) Abhay Sharma distributed Point of Sale (PoS) payment devices and speakers to beneficiaries under the Fish Andhra scheme on Tuesday. Paytm and AP State Fishermen Cooperative Societies Federation Limited (AFCOF) signed an MoU to provide payment support to the 100 Aqua Hubs being set up by the State government and 2,000 retail outlets under the scheme in the first phase.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Appalaraju said Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is keen that at least 30% of the aqua produce is sold within the State as most of the produce was being exported to other States and countries currently. "The per capita consumption of seafood in many States is 27 kg while it was only seven to eight kg in A.P. We are planning to increase the State's per capita consumption of seafood to 18-21 kg," he said.
To achieve the aim, the government is setting up aqua hubs, mini retail outlets, fish kiosks and live fish vending stations by turning around 14,000 youth into entrepreneurs and providing jobs to at least two lakh people, he said.
"As many as 2,725 beneficiaries have been finalised for mini retail outlets and 355 mini retail outlets are already running successfully in the State. Also, 15 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) through aqua hubs were finalised and super retail outlets were established in Pulivendula, Vizag and Vinukonda," he said.
Mr. Appalaraju said that the Fish Andhra initiative is meant to change the lives of the fishermen community and vendors who were forced to sell fish on the roadside in unhygienic conditions for years.
Mr. Kanna Babu said that people are gradually becoming aware of the benefits of the consumption of fish.
“Fish is good for health and it is cheaper than other meat but people do not come forward to buy it because of hygiene and packaging issues. Fish Andhra scheme will address the issues effectively and in the near future, the outlets will become lucrative business opportunities in the State,” he said. The digitalisation of payments with Paytm’s support will help the beneficiaries analyse their sales trends and act accordingly, he added.
“We are proud to partner with the Andhra Pradesh government. Paytm will enable consumers to make digital payments seamlessly at aqua hubs and retail outlets in the State. Paytm’s all-in-one PoS devices will give merchants access to a powerful dashboard with a multi-level view of daily transactions. Merchants can also avail services and financial solutions such as loans, insurance and digital ledgers,” Mr. Abhay Sharma said.
