LUCKNOW, 17 April 2024: Shail Kumari, a farmer associated with Urra Shobha Purva SHG in the Mihinpurva block of Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, faced challenges in supplying sufficient food grains for her family due to seasonal flooding.

Upon discovering fish farming through Transform Rural India’s (TRI) ‘Aqua School,’ Shail Kumari decided to excavate a fish pond in her one bigha land, investing Rs 10,000 with support from the village organisation, while TRI provided fish seeds and bird nets.

With paddy transplanted in the middle of the field, Shail Kumari earned a profit of Rs. 5,000 from paddy production and a total income of Rs. 40,000 from fish farming. Additionally, fish farming reduced pests in the paddy crop, eliminating the need for extra fertilisers. Currently, Shail Kumari plans to expand fish farming across her entire field in the future.

Not only Shail Kumari, but many women farmers in the rural villages of UP, where traditional agriculture is the primary source of income, are efficiently integrating fish farming into their conventional crop cultivation. This is made possible by ‘Aqua Schools,’ a novel initiative from TRI aimed at empowering women farmers.