CIFRI Awards
Saren beel is a closed floodplain wetland located in Mushalpur, Baksa district, Assam, having water area of 13 ha. It is a horse-shoe shaped oxbow lake with an average water depth of 1-3 m across seasons. The beel is managed by Saren Beel Min Palan Co-operative Society Ltd. A total of 9 villages comprising 503 households are located at the periphery of the beel all of whom belong to Scheduled Tribe category (Bodo community).
As part of the outreach activities initiated by ICAR-CIFRI under the dynamic leadership of Dr. B. K. Das, Director, ICAR-CIFRI, Barrackpore and guidance of Dr. J. K. Jena, DDG (Fisheries Science), ICAR, New Delhi under NEH component, a total of 39,000 advance fish fingerling (@ 3000 nos. ha-1) comprising IMCs, Labeo bata and L. gonius were stocked in Saren beel in consultation with the community.
An awareness programme was organized on fish stock enhancement followed by supplementary seed stocking programme. The programme was organized organized by ICAR-CIFRI in collaboration with Department of Fisheries, Baksa, Assam and Saren Beel Min Palan Co-operative Society Ltd under the overall guidance of Dr. B. K. Das, Director, ICAR-CIFRI, Barrackpore & Programme coordinator, NEH component, and Dr. B.K. Bhattacharjya, Head, ICAR-CIFRI Regional Centre, Guwahati & Nodal officer, NEH component. The basic objective of the programme was to create awareness among fishers on importance of fish stock enhancement in beels and at the same time improving livelihood of tribal fishers through increased fish production and income. During interaction with fishers, Dr. S. C. S. Das explained the background and objectives of the stocking programme. Mr. Simanku Borah explained different aspects of scientific beel fisheries management and the need for sustainable utilization of these valuable resources. Mr. A. Choudhury, FDO, DoF, Baksa, Assam explained the present fisheries activities being undertaken in the beel and stressed on the need to follow scientific management guidelines.
A total of 503 tribal families are expected to reap benefits of the supplementary stocking programme. Mr. Sunil Boro, Member, Saren Beel Min Palan Co-operative Society Ltd. assured full cooperation from members of the local community to ICAR-CIFRI for successful implementation of the programme and expressed his sincere gratitude on behalf of fisher community of Saren beel to the Director, ICAR-CIFRI for his initiative to improve income and livelihood of tribal fishers of the beel.
