ABSTRACT
Many households have enough land and water to grow sufficient rice for just two-and-a-half months of consumption by five to six family members. Rural extension officers, who often gave generously of their time to accompany our forays to clusters of remote villages where fish had been stocked in village tanks, were frustrated. Previously, applications by farmers for support for aquaculture in seasonal ponds – to the Indian government’s national aquaculture development effort, known as the Fish Farmers Development Agency (FFDA) – were not supported by fisheries departments or by the rural banking sector. In India relationships among policy-makers, service-providers and recipients of their efforts are hierarchical, which tends to exacerbate the gaps in communication among these groups and isolate them from each other. Fisheries matters are a state-level issue in India, but there is central government coordination and most support schemes are co-funded by state and national governments.
