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CIFRI Connects with more than Seventy eight thousand farmers in West Bengal under Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan

21^st June, 2025

The Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan is a dedicated 15-day campaign launched on May 29, 2025, to accelerate the adoption of modern, sustainable, and profitable agricultural practices across India. This initiative aligns with the broader national vision of Viksit Bharat@2047, which aims to transform India into a developed nation by 2047. Agriculture plays a vital role in ensuring food security, generating employment, and fostering rural development.

As part of this flagship Farmer Awareness & Outreach Campaign, approximately 2,000 teams—comprising agricultural scientists, officials, and progressive farmers—visit villages across India daily to promote innovative farming techniques. Under this initiative, ICAR-CIFRI, in collaboration with district-level Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), has made significant strides in reaching farmers. ICAR-CIFRI campaign has reached 78,076 farmers (46,398 men and 31,678 women) across 13 districts in West Bengal, including 290 villages in South 24 Parganas, Birbhum, Murshidabad, Hooghly, Jhargram, Paschim Medinipur, Nadia, Burdwan, Uttar Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, Kalimpong, and Darjeeling.

CIFRI started its journey under “Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan” on 29th of May, 2025 from the Kumli wetland situated in Nadia district of West Bengal. Dr. B. K. Das, Director of CIFRI reached the wetland and interacted closely with more than 200 fishers. The massive campaign was carried out with active collaboration with KVKs and progressive farmers to provide pre-Kharif advisory to the farmers. The pre-Kharif season (April–June) in West Bengal is a critical period for land preparation, seed treatment, and crop planning, directly influencing the success of the Kharif season. These advisory aims to guide farmers on timely and region-specific practices to enhance productivity and climate resilience. The pre-Kharif period is also crucial for fish farmers in West Bengal to prepare aquaculture systems for the upcoming monsoon season. This advisory emphasizes fish pond preparation through de-siltation, liming, etc. Fisheries related advisories on selection of quality fingerlings from certified hatcheries for stocking, optimal stocking densities based on pond size and species, water quality management, balanced feed, disease surveillance were provided. Leaflets on local languages were also distributed to the farmers. Various State as well as Central Government schemes were discussed. Many fish farmers were guided to do on-spot registration on National Fisheries Digital Platform (NFDP).

Feedback was taken from the farmers regarding their existing package of practices. Farm innovations by the farmers were also documented. This will help the ICAR-CIFRI scientists to plan further research on certain demanding aspects in coming years. This comprehensive pre-Kharif preparedness will help to boost productivity, reduce risk, and promote sustainable aquaculture practices across the state.