Project Pokhar Promises Profits to Small-Scale Fish Farmers in Bihar

More than 300 fishers in Purnia district in Bihar have turned around their fishing business, thanks to an intervention that offers them fish seeds at nominal rates, and extends easy loans to them through an Aqua Fund.

An initiative by Centre for Aquatic Livelihood Jaljeevika (commonly known as Jaljeevika), a non-profit, is trying to make aquaculture a profitable business for small scale fish farmers, and is building resilience of the community in the face of climate change. It has been working on promoting aquatic livelihood amongst the villagers in Bihar since 2021.

Building resilience in the fishing community is important because India is the third largest fish producing country in the world, contributing eight per cent to the global fish production, and ranks second in aquaculture production.

Fisheries sector provides livelihood, employment and entrepreneurship to more than 28 million fishers and fish farmers at primary level.

A large number of villagers in Bihar are involved in fishing activities but the changing climate is adding to their woes. Almost 75 per cent of North Bihar is prone to floods, affecting 28 districts. This results in significant destruction of property, loss of lives, and damage to farmlands and infrastructure.

But, the fishing community demonstrates a remarkable ability to quickly recover after floods by resuming their livelihood activities as soon as the floodwaters recede. ​

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Jaljeevika has initiated Project Pokhar in Purnia district, with the approach to build resilience to climate change within fisheries and aquaculture communities.

Sudeep Kumar Singh is one of the beneficiaries of the initiative. A couple of years ago, the young fish farmer from Durgapur village in Bhawanipur block of Purnia, used to struggle to get enough fish catch to sustain his family and save some money for the future needs. Today, he owns three small ponds near his house.

“I procured subsidised fish seeds from Jaljeevika which I had to otherwise buy from the market. This saved me so much money. Earlier I bought it for Rs 1,300 per kilogram whereas I pay Jaljeevika a nominal Rs 150 a kilo,” Singh told Gaon Connection.

In peak season, between December and February, the fish farmer said he earns up to three lakh rupees through fish farming.

Subodh Kumar, Lead - Research & Engagements, Jaljeevika, said that the aim of their work was to enhance livelihoods and create food and nutritional security in rural India. “We are working in Purnia to help the local fishing community and farmers to make use of aquatic resources and increase their productivity,” he said.

The non-profit is supported by the Bihar government and other agencies to provide subsidised fish seeds to small and marginal farmers.

“We also want to ensure that we can provide enough credit to them to help them sustain their business,” Subodh Kumar added.

This is being done through Aqua Fund that offers loans to fish farmers at an interest rate of eight per cent per annum. Loan amount ranging from Rs 6,000 to Rs 25,000 is given by Jaljeevika, and the farmer has to return it in six to 12 months.

No guarantee is needed but preference is given to farmers who are a part of a farmers producer company (FPC). Others are encouraged to become a part of the FPC.

Gajendra Kumar, a 28-year-old fisherman from Dhamdaha village in Purnia, has benefitted from the Aqua Fund. “The Rs 15,000 loan I took from the fund helped me in my business when it was in troubled waters, and today I am making good profits. This loan has helped many fishermen like me,” said the fisherman.

He said he was able to double his earnings in just a few months and he has repaid the loan since. “In the peak season, I daily sell around 70-80 kilograms of fish in the nearby areas and earn Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,200 per kilogram depending on the type of fish I sell. Indigenous varieties of fishes like desi magur and sindhi fetch a higher price,” said Gajendra Kumar.

“Now, poor farmers like me do not fall into the trap of moneylenders or middlemen and can directly take loans from Jaljeevika,” he added.

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Deepak Kumar Ved Vyas also took Rs 25,000 from the Aqua Fund to buy more fish. The 39-year-old fisherman from Chandrahi Hazari Tola village farms fish in an one-acre pond.

“Earlier I earned between Rs 12,000 and Rs 15,000 a month, but ever since I took the loan and bought more fish seeds from Jaljeevika at a subsidised rate, my monthly income has doubled to nearly Rs 40,000 in the peak fishing season,” Vyas told Gaon Connection.

Vyas said that he also buys feed, multivitamins and maize powder for the fishes at a nominal rate of Rs 52 per kilogram from Jaljeevika. The market rate is Rs 70 a kg.

Fish farming follows a cycle. In August, the fish seeds are put in the ponds and in March/ April they are harvested.

These fishers in Purnia rear a variety of fishes — catla, rohu, silver carp, common carp. Catla is sold for Rs 260 a kg and Rohu for Rs 250 a kg. The average rate of fish is Rs 300 per kg and the peak sale season is between November and March, said Subodh Kumar of Jaljeevika.

This project in Purnia has received support from New Delhi-based non-profit, Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society (SEEDS), which recently onboarded 11 grassroots organisations to pivot its ‘climate resilience through innovation’ campaign.

Called ‘Flip the Notion’, SEEDS showcased their work at an event in New Delhi. Project Pokhar is one of the 11 innovators chosen under the project.

Apart from increasing livelihood opportunities for fishers, Project Pokhar is also helping revive local water bodies that are fast disappearing due to encroachments and lack of upkeep.

“If the fast-disappearing water bodies are linked to their livelihoods, it makes the people naturally take ownership of protecting those water bodies,” said Dr Manu Gupta, Co-Founder SEEDS.

"Jaljeevika's digitalised cluster planning toolkit is an innovative initiative that uses satellite images to identify and map water bodies in the rural areas where fish farming is prevalent. This information is then used to plan and design aquaculture clusters, taking into account the water availability, quality, and other factors,” he added.

Fisheries sector has a huge potential in the country. Since the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana in the year 2020-21, the overall fish production in the country has shown an increasing trend, registering a fish production of 16.24 million tonnes in 2021-22 from 14.16 million tonnes in 2019-20.

The unutilised and underutilised vast and varied resources, in the form of 191,024 km of rivers and canals, 1.2 million hectares of floodplain lakes, 2.36 million hectares of ponds and tanks, 3.54 million hectares of reservoirs, and 1.24 million hectares of brackish water resources offer great opportunities for enhanced production along with livelihood development.