Fish FarmersCapacity Building Program for their Livelihood Improvement

The ICAR-RCER, Patna organized a "Capacity Building Program for Increasing the Livelihood of Fish Farmers" on March 5, 2025. This program was conducted under the Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan (SCSP), with the co-operation from ICAR-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR), Lucknow, and the Fisheries Directorate, Government of Bihar. A total of 100 Scheduled Caste fish farmers from Patna, Gaya, Buxar, and Vaishali districts participated in this program.

Dr. Anup Das, Director of the Institute, addressed the fish farmers and highlighted that fish farming is a prominent industry in the Indian economy with immense employment opportunities. He emphasized that people from rural area often belong to economically and socially backgrounds sections, and theirliving standard can be improved by promoting fisheries business. He also m stated that fisheries sector is currently one of the fastest-growing agricultural sector. Since fish farming requires low capital investment, it can be easily adopted by marginal and poor farmers. He also stressed the importance of integrated fish farming, which ensures year-round availability of food production from their farming field.

 Guest of Honour Mr. Dilip Kumar, Joint Director, Fisheries Directorate, Patna, highlighted on various schemes launched by the Bihar Government, including the Fish Marketing Scheme, Special Scheme for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Fish Farmers, River Ranching Scheme, Fish Seed Production Scheme, Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, and Fish farmers Insurance Scheme.

Dr. Monobrullah, Principal Scientist, ATARI Patna, explained the benefits of high-quality fish seed and encouraged fish farmers to work as a team, elaborating on the advantages of teamwork.

Dr. Santosh Kumar, Senior Scientist, ICAR-NBFGR, Lucknow, discussed the initiatives undertaken by his institute to improve the livelihood of fish farmers, including fish seed production through cryopreservation, ornamental fish production techniques, and methods to reduce antimicrobial resistance in fish farming. He also introduced the "Report Fish Disease Mobile App", explaining its benefits and providing training on its usage for fish disease treatment.

Earlier, Dr. Kamal Sharma, Head of the Livestock and Fisheries Division, welcomed all guests and also emphasised on the current status of fish production in Bihar. He also explained the causes of fish depletion in rivers and suggested possible solutions to enhance to fish production in riverine system.

During the event, the ICAR-RCER, Patna launched a booklet titled “Wetland Management for Fish Farming”. Additionally, as part of the capacity-building initiative, fish baskets, cast nets, hapa nets, and hand nets were distributed as input tools to the participating farmers.

The program concluded with a vote of thanks by Dr. Vivekanand Bharti, Scientist. The success of the event was attributed to the contributions of Dr. Tarkeshwar Kumar, Dr.Surendra Kumar Ahirwal, Mr. Amrendra Kumar, Mr. Umesh Kumar Mishra, and others of ICAR-RCER, Patna.