Chennai :

When Bujiyamma bought a crab from the Chintadripet market, it weighed only 400g. After a month, its weight doubled to 800g. Mud crab-fattening is catching on among the fisherfolk in Pazhaverkadu (Pulicat), a historical seashore town in Tiruvallur district, 62km from Chennai.

At least 11 self-help groups, with a dozen women members each, have been working on this project. Bujiyamma has been on the job for more than two years.

“The crab-fattening period is 35 days. We feed the crabs with small fish that we catch from the sea and sell them after they gain weight,” said Bujiyamma.

This 60-year-old fisher woman in Kulathumedu has seen crabs gain weight up to 2kg during fattening. “I have successfully nurtured some crabs that weighed up to 2kg. If we take care of them well, they will gain weight rapidly.

By fattening them, we can sell them for a good price,” she said. The women sell the fattened crabs at ‘1,200 per kg. Even though a mud crab is supposed to gain weight during the fattening period, some don’t for unknown reasons. “It’s not necessary that all crabs would put on weight during the fattening period.

We need to repeat the process for the crabs that don’t gain weight in the first attempt.

It’s a costly affair,” said S Sasikala, another crab-breeder.

A project supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialised agency of the United Nations to eradicate poverty in rural areas of the developing countries, crab-fattening has helped many fisherwomen earn a fairly good income. “If we are to eradicate hunger and poverty, we need to empower rural people to take care of their own development. Mud crab-fattening is one of the micro enterprise activities of our project. I am happy that it is going well in Pazhaverkadu,” said Kanayo F Nwanze, president of the IFAD after visiting the unit in Kulathumedu recently.

Although crab-fattening is attracting more fisherwomen in Pulicat, many feel that the initiative will help more women if extended to other coastal districts of Tamil Nadu.

“It’s an easy way for women to earn some money without investing much. The government should look into the positive side of the project. It will help if implemented in other coastal districts,” said Rani Pugazhendi, panchayat president of Kottaikuppam in Pazhaverkadu.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by  M T Saju , TNN / August 16th, 2014