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What workedA fish hatchery owner in Subarnachar, Noakhali, in a Prothom Alo report · Started in 2012

From selling fry off a bicycle to 17 hatcheries and 10 lakh a year

He started in 2012 on 20 decimals of inherited land with a 20,000-taka NGO loan. Seventeen hatcheries over 15 acres now produce 1 to 1.5 crore renu and fry a year, leaving about 10 lakh taka of net income.

For years this man from Char Majid village in Subarnachar, Noakhali, carried pots of fish fry on the back of a bicycle from village to village. In 2012 he started his own hatchery on 20 decimals of inherited land, but had no money for renu, so he took a 20,000-taka loan and production training from a local NGO. He grew step by step: two acres bought from his own earnings, 13 acres leased, later 6 lakh taka from the NGO and a 4 lakh taka agricultural loan from Sonali Bank. Seventeen hatcheries over 15 acres 20 decimals now produce 1 to 1.5 crore renu and fry a year, leaving about 10 lakh taka after land rent and wages; this season 20-22 lakh taka went in and 20-25 lakh taka of fry has already been sold. Twelve permanent workers earn 9,000 to 18,000 taka a month and 60 fry sellers and fish traders buy from him, with 70-72 families depending on the farm. Severe water shortage in the dry season is his main constraint.

Lessons

  1. 1.Selling the product first teaches you who the buyers are: years on the bicycle route meant 60 ready customers the day the hatchery scaled
  2. 2.The training that came with the 20,000 taka mattered more than the money, because fry survival is what the whole business turns on

Published with the person's permission, without revealing who they are.

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