Sujeet Chaudhary, who hails from Waltarganj in Basti district of Uttar Pradesh, once worked as a software engineer at a multinational company in America, but he never felt settled abroad and eventually returned to his village. Today, that same Sujeet runs a large fish farming business spread across 350 acres in Raebareli and earns lakhs of rupees every year.
From a software company to fish farming
After returning to his village, Sujeet first began taking care of his parents and decided to start his own software company. In 2016, he set up this company in Noida. Once the company started doing well, Sujeet thought about starting another business while staying close to his parents. With this idea in mind, he traveled to Lucknow to meet his parents, where he came across Sunita Verma, the Assistant Fisheries Director of Raebareli. Sunita Verma explained fish farming to him in detail and told him that he could earn lakhs of rupees through fish farming while staying at home, and could also generate employment for many people. This idea stayed with Sujeet.
From 15 acres to a 350-acre operation
After getting this information from Sunita Verma, Sujeet rented land in Bawan Buzurg Balla village under Maharajganj tehsil in Raebareli. He started out by building ponds on around 15 acres for fish farming. Gradually, the business grew so much that today Sujeet farms fish in 23 ponds spread across 350 acres of land in the village. According to Sujeet, he earns lakhs of rupees every year from this work. He has also created employment for more than two dozen people, who work directly at his ponds.
The fish species Sujeet farms
Sujeet Kumar says he farms fish covered under IMC, or Indian Major Crop, on a large scale, including Rohu, Katla and Mrigal. Besides these, he also farms the American species Pangasius and sea shrimp. These fish are supplied abroad, while the sea shrimp is sent to Mumbai, from where it gets exported.
Inspiration during Covid and a national award
Sujeet says that during the Covid pandemic, when everything had shut down, Prime Minister Modi inspired young people to take up new work through a startup scheme. Taking inspiration from that, Sujeet started this fish farming work. The government also recognised his hard work and honoured him with the National Best Fish Farmer Award for his contribution to fish farming. Sujeet wants to develop Raebareli into a fish hub. At present, his ponds produce 600 to 700 tonnes of fish every year.
Using modern technology to protect the fish
Sujeet Chaudhary makes extensive use of modern technology in his fish farming operation. To protect the fish from harsh summer heat, he has installed an aerator system in the ponds, which keeps the oxygen level in the water stable and helps the fish survive even in extreme heat.
