New Delhi, June 28 -- On a cold, June morning at the Kokernag trout farm in south Kashmir's Anantnag district, about 90 km from Srinagar, Fayaz Ahmad Mir hauls a net through a concrete raceway (an artificial channel) fed by a freshwater spring.

The temperature of the water is around 10 degrees Celsius year-round, too cold for a human to survive for more than 15 minutes, Mir says, but ideal for trout. Sajad Hussain Dar, chief project officer of the Kokernag farm, says that rainbow trout thrive at between 5 degrees and 15 degrees Celsius. "The more hygienic the water, the faster they grow," chimes in Mir.

Jammu and Kashmir has emerged as India's leading trout producing region with around 3,010 tonnes produced in 2024-25, supported by the ...