The fish-breeding centre at Inginiyagala was constructed in the
year 1961, during the latter part of the Galoya development project.
It is situated about 280 miles away from Colombo by the Colombo-Ampara
main road via Siyambalanduwa, just below the main dam of Senanayake
Samudraya. The total land area that was earmarked for the breeding
centre was about 14 ha, of which approximately 6 ha has already
been utilized for ponds, hatchery and buildings. Other half of the
land awaits development and its soil characteristics are very suitable
for pond construction. The main advantage of the location is the
year round availability of gravity fed water.
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During the initial stages of operation,
breeding activities in Inginiyagala AQDC was confined only to two
species, namely common Carp and Tilapia. After 1987, with further
development of the infrastructure of the centre, breeding of other
exotic carp species was also started. At present the centre consists
of 30 concrete-lined mud ponds, 40 newly repaired cemented cubicles
of 4m x 3m x 1m in size, 15 newly constructed cement cubicles of
6m x 4m x 1 m in size and two small earth-lined reservoirs of 5000
m2 and 2000m2 respectively. Details of available ponds are given
in the following table. |
