It was a time to create opportunities when there appeared to be none. Seven unemployed youths of Bogibari, a village in Dimoria Block of Kamrup (Metro) District, were having a difficult time to find any secure livelihood with financial stability. They tried desperately to identify a business model involving fish farming that would provide sustainable livelihood for their families. But their efforts did not yield any result, the commercial banks were unable to promise loans for a group of rural youths with no collaterals to offer.

Then in 2007, the group decided on a different path. The youths decided to make use of their surrounding low lying areas to be developed into fish ponds. With some hope, they visited NABARD’s regional office at Guwahati seeking their guidance in the form of technical and financial support. On the advice of NABARD officials, the seven young men formed an NGO named Kalong Kapili. The name came from Kalong and Kapili, rivers which flowed past their area to merge with the mighty Brahmaputra, north of their area.

The first achievement of Kalong Kapili was in October of 2007 in which it received support from NABARD to train 55 fish farmers of Dimoria Development block, to adopt scientific fish farming in their own ponds. This opportunity enabled farmers to come on a common platform to understand and share knowledge about best practices in fresh water pisciculture. The efforts resulted in the NGO gaining the technical support of the State Fisheries Department, and convinced Assam Gramin Vikash Bank (AGVB) to provide credit support without collaterals, as a result of which 100 farmers were able to procure loans for fish farming.

With success in the initial effort, Kalong Kapili conducted a number of training programmes joining hands with NABARD, Department of Fisheries and AGV Bank from 2008 onward. Trainings and exposure visits arranged by Kalong Kapili included Skill Development Initiative and Rural Entrepreneurship Development Programme, among others. More than a thousand unemployed youths found economic opportunities to generate income with very low investments for the first time. Valuable support in this regard was received from the then Commissioner and Secretary, Department of Fisheries, Assam.

The NGO, in 2009, implemented a project – Replacement of Bottom Dweller Fish by Fresh Water Prawn – sanctioned by NABARD under Rural Innovation Fund (RIF) through which 30 fish farmers from two Panchayats started prawn cultivation in the project period. Thus, they utilised an opportunity to substantially increase their income, as prawn fetched much higher prices compared to common and mrigal fish which were replaced. An advantage of rearing fresh water prawns was that it reduced silting in the bottom of the pond, a sound environmental spin off. These farmers shared their knowledge with fish farmers from many other parts of Assam. Kalong Kapili’s efforts proved that fresh water prawn cultivation was possible in the geo-climatic condition of Assam.

It was a first for Assam, subsequently replicated in other parts of the State. It opened a new opportunity for farmers to augment their income without making large investments. For the first time, NABARD’s regional office prepared a ‘Bankable Model Scheme’ and circulated notices to all banks for the Replacement of Bottom Dweller Fish by Fresh Water Prawn. The project, which included Kalong Kapili’s acquisition of spawns from Kolkata, also enabled the creation of a prawn hatchery at Meen Bhawan in Guwahati. The Employment Generation Mission (EGM), Assam Government, and Department of Fisheries identified this development as one of the key rural development activities in the State.

A new milestone was crossed in 2010 when the NGO implemented a Self Help Groups Formation, Promotion and Credit Linkage programme. Two hundred SHGs were formed and sustained in Dimoria Block, an area with inadequate economic opportunities. Significantly, all the groups comprised women from financially disadvantaged background. They were introduced to fish-cum-duck rearing, making them economically and socially empowered. The effort was made successful by support from NABARD, SIRD and AGV Bank. The groups worked in a competitive mood and one group named Dhansiri received the Best SHG Award from the Chief Minister of Assam.

In 2011 Kalong Kapili submitted another innovative project proposal to NABARD, which enabled culture of Jayanti Rohu in Bogibari. This particular fish is a genetically improved variety of Rohu, developed by Central Institute of Fresh Water Aqua Culture (CIFA) Bhubaneshwar. The first of its kind effort in Assam was successful because the growth of Jayanti Rohu is approximately 40 per cent faster than the local variety of Rohu, and the fish tastes much better.

With permission from NABARD, CIFA, and line departments of the State Government, an ambitious breeding programme of Jayanti Rohu was carried out and fish seeds became available for fish farmers of Assam for the first time. Subsequently, the first Jayanti Rohu seeds were provided to the incharge of Jongal Bolohu fish seed farm of Fisheries Department by the Chief Minister of Assam, who along with Kalong Kapili also appreciated the role of CIFA, NABARD and the Fisheries Department.

Kalong Kapili, a year later, came up with a new plan to raise the income of fish farmers through establishment of Koi culture through ‘cage in culture pond.’ This fish – Anabas testudineus – is a traditional delicious food known for its nutritional qualities. It became an effective income generating activity particularly for farmers with small ponds. Five hundred fish farmers in fifty SHGs adopted the technology to raise Koi fish in cage in culture pond in cluster approach, a first of its kind in Assam.

Also during the year Kalong-Kapili developed 692 pig farmers in Dimoria Development Block under pig development schemes of GoI and NABARD with the cluster development approach. Apart from getting training in piggery each of the 692 farmers received loan and subsidy from AGV Bank and NABARD respectively. Technical support was provided by Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department, Assam.

The natural environment of Assam has undergone changes in recent times, and some of the endemic fish varieties are under severe threat. One of the fish species is Olive Barb (Puntius Sarana) locally known as Seni Puthi, the stocks of which was in the decline. In 2012 Kalong Kapili also developed a pen and cage culture of Seni Puthi in riverine water bodies under Farm Innovation and Promotion Fund under NABARD.

In due course the NGO successfully cultured the fish and carried out its breeding, and made it easily available in the markets. The impact was such that it achieved the optimum utilisation of available water bodies with minimum input cost. This effort also enabled the re-growth of the population that was in the slide. This was particularly beneficial to people who didn’t have their own ponds.

Under Tribal Development Programme of NABARD, the NGO, in 2013, was able to develop 500 tribal families covering 14 villages in Dimoria block, close to Assam Meghalaya border. Best practices popularised in the Nartap area were primarily in the form of rubber cultivation. During the incubation period of rubber cultivation, Kalong Kapili developed pineapple, banana and broomstick plantation as intercrops which provided them with much needed income.

Allied to this were effective programmes such as capacity building, women’s empowerment, gender sensitisation and promotion of community health. It is now evident that in the future a large number of people will have sustainable lifestyles through positive changes in the land use pattern.

The NGO enabled 150 poultry farmers and 150 goat farmers to undergo training and receive loans and subsidy from AGV Bank and NABARD under IDSRR Scheme of GOI in 2014. A large number of farmers who were on the look out for financial support were helped by Kalong Kapili with support from AGV Bank to acquire Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) giving them renewed confidence.

Next year, for the first time in NE India Kalong Kapili was able to convert a NABARD ‘Grant model’ to a ‘Business model’ through the project, ‘Replacement of Bottom Dweller Fish by Fresh Water Prawn,’ under the Umbrella Programme for Natural Resource Management (UPNRM). At the same time, Kalong Kapili developed fishery clusters covering 200 fish ponds within a one kilometre radius of Bogibari. This development underlined the positive change in land use in and around Bogibari, where before 2007 the only noticeable feature was a low lying terrain of swamps and marshes.

Today the village, due to its success in fish farming, acts as an inspiring model that people and agencies involved in pisciculture come to study from different parts of the country. Recently, a team from Bhutan visited the village to understand how rural development can be triggered through scientific fish farming. After achieving the initial breakthrough, Kalong Kapili embarked on the diffusion of innovative knowledge and techniques among the fish farmers.

With an aim to enhance earnings and ensure the availability of required technology intervention Kalong-Kapili in 2015 developed two Farmers Producer Organisation (FPO) specially for orange growers and pig farmers at Kamrup (Metro) and Nagaon district respectively under the produce fund of NABARD. About 600 farmers thus received much needed support.

An integrated approach to agriculture, horticulture, pisciculture, piggery, and local layer farming was introduced in Tribal Development Programme (TDP) for the first time in NE India with Kalong Kapili as the main stakeholder. The project launched in 2015 and completed in March 2020, covered 400 tribal families at Borbeel cluster of Nagaon district.

Kalong-Kapili implemented NABARD’s national campaign ‘Jal Jeevan Hai’ launched in the year 2017, at Kamrup (M) and Nagaon, and covered 500 villages. Villagers were trained on diverse aspects of water conservation, efficient water use, enhancement of traditional methods etc.

Traversing along to explore newer horizons with the support of its well wishers, Kalong-Kapili is at present implementing an Integrated Tribal Development Programme (ITDP) at Khatomari cluster of Amri Block of West Karbi Anglong district of Assam with the support of NABARD Assam Regional Office. A total of 350 households from eleven villages have been covered under this project.

Another ongoing project is E- shakti, a NABARD funded project that is being implemented at Raha and Kathiatoli block of Nagaon district of Assam. The main objectives of the programme is to digitise the SHGs in a methodical and systematic way. So far, 1650 SHGs have been covered under the project.

Kalong-Kapili has also joined hands with Entrepreneurship Development institute of India (EDII) to implement a project called Micro Skillpreneurs Development program (MSDP), under which two groups of farmers, each group consisting of 46 members, have been developed in Nagaon and Karbi Anglong. One group is for dry fish in Nagaon and the other group is for handicrafts in Karbi Anglong.

With the support of Kalong-Kapili, Assam Agricultural University, Khanapara, organized a cattle health camp and a farmers-scientists meet at Bagibari on February 9, 2020.

On April 9, 2020, in view of the Covid-19 induced situation, the NGO handed over a cheque of Rs 50,000 to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, Assam. They also distributed rations to 200 farmers in their project areas.