Five Primary Fishermen’s Co-operative Societies (PFCS), which were selected by the Fisheries department to undertake cage fish farming in Hirakud Dam Reservoir (HDR), have failed to start it due to fund crunch. The five societies are Mahanadi and Mohammadpur in Sambalpur, Banrepat and Chourasi in Jharsuguda and Tamdei in Bargarh district. The department had installed 50 cages in the reservoir to boost fish production. However, cage fish farming is yet to start by the PFCS due to lack of initial funding. As per reports, a Banaras-based manufacturer has installed the cages in the HDR. The cage is enclosed on all sides with mesh netting made from synthetic material. Apart from installation of 10 cages for each PFCS, floating storage shed has been installed at an estimated cost of about `25 lakh for each society. As per plan, fingerlings of fast-growing fish variety Pangasius, Tilapia, Koi, Amur Carp and Chital were supposed to be released into the cages. Around 3,000 fingerlings will be released into each cage which will produce about 30 quintal of fish within a period of about eight months. Each PFCS will produce about 300 quintal of fish from 10 cages and earn a net income of `15 lakh. Deputy Director of Fisheries, Sambalpur Zone, Pabitra Kumar Behera said the department has already installed 50 cages in the HDR and entered into an agreement with each PFCS to carry out cage fish farming for five years. However, all the five PFCS have failed to start farming due to lack of funding, he added. Behera said he has already written to the higher authorities to provide input loan of `7.5 lakh under Rashtriya Krishi Vikash Yojana to each PFCS to start cage fish farming in the reservoir. The PFCS will release fingerlings into the cages after receiving the input loan from the Fisheries department, he added. In 2013, the department had installed 28 cages in Hirakud at an estimated cost of `47 lakh for the farming.