Back from Singapore to leased ponds: pangas from 12 ponds, Tk 5 crore of fish sold in a year
A Sakhipur, Tangail farmer who returned after 13 years in Singapore started pangas in five leased ponds and now farms 12 ponds on 40 acres. In 2021 he sold about Tk 5 crore of fish and earned about Tk 1 crore after costs.
This farmer from Kalmegha village in Sakhipur upazila, Tangail, went to Singapore in 1996 in search of a livelihood. After 13 years abroad he returned home in 2009 with a few lakh taka in capital. He leased several ponds in the village, took advice from the local fisheries office, then brought pangas fry and started farming in five small ponds. Because the profit in the very first year was higher than expected, he gradually added ponds.
According to a 2022 Prothom Alo report, he farms pangas and local fish in 12 ponds on 40 acres of land in his own village and the surrounding area, and 14 employees work on the farm. In 2021 he sold about Tk 5 crore of fish and earned about Tk 1 crore after costs; that year he was also chosen as the district's best fish farmer.
But he himself has warned: because fish feed prices have risen, there is not much profit now. Pangas fry used to be available in the district's hatcheries; now they have to be brought from Bogura and Santahar. For two years during Covid, pangas could not be sent abroad and feed prices also rose, and many farmers suffered losses.
Lessons
- 1.You can start on leased ponds without owning land; grow only after the first year's results are in.
- 2.Pangas sells cheap, so profit hinges on feed cost; when feed prices rise, even large sales earn less.
- 3.Advice from the local fisheries office at the start paid off.
We published this with the person's permission, without revealing who they are.
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