Since long ago, WorldFish has been promoting nutrition-sensitive approaches for aquatic food production systems by integrating small indigenous fish species (SIS). This effort gained global recognition when Dr. Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted of WorldFish was awarded the World Food Prize of 2021. SIS have high nutritional value in terms of protein content and the presence of bioavailable micronutrients and essential fatty acids. However, habitat degradation, overexploitation, and other environmental stresses have made once abundant and affordable SIS increasingly scarce and expensive. This has invoked interest in commercial farming of SIS. To address this, WorldFish has taken up a project entitled “Taking Nutrition-Sensitive Carp-SIS Polyculture Technology to Scale” in Odisha and Assam states of India with the following objectives:

  • Assess factors influencing the adoption of carp-SIS polyculture technology under previous projects.
  • Develop protocols for the mass production and transportation of seed for up to five nutrient-rich SIS.
  • Validate business models for breeding and distributing SIS species in partnership with private seed supply enterprises.
  • Provide technical training and outreach to ensure integration into public and private investments for further scaling.

Protocols for the mass production and transport of seed were developed for five species including mola (Amblypharyngodon mola). For the commercialization and upscaling of seed production and distribution network, the following four business plans are being proposed:

  • Upgradation of existing carp hatchery to take up mola seed production as an add-on activity
  • Exclusive commercial hatchery for mola seed production as a standalone activity
  • Exclusive commercial multispecies hatchery for SIS
  • Large multispecies hatchery with research facilities for SIS

Among the business plans, the model on upgrading the existing carp hatchery is the most financially profitable with favorable financial indicators such as benefit-cost-ratio of 1.67, internal-rate-of-return of 32.94%, and debt-service-coverage-ratio of 1.63.