Aquariculture and Sustainable Rural Development:Studies from West Bengal, India

Poverty can be considered as a curse for any society that adversely interferes with the overall development of the community. It skeletonizes the physical and mental health of human being and also ruins the progressive outlook of any society. Within this purview it is emancipated that if habit of ornamental fish-keeping and fish culture in aquarium can be introduced as hobby especially in rural populace it may strike as home based industry within no time to offer a comparatively new avenue for employment generation to quell the subsequent poverty alleviation in rural West Bengal. In this study; apart from conventional activities of agriculture and food fish aquaculture, rural men, women as well as children are found to be interested to take up the other such part time activities, as they could realize that it will help them to experience ‘morning light’ to earn their livelihood in the ‘amidst of dark’ future ensuring sustainable economic growth and development.