{"id":6960,"date":"2026-06-12T15:58:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T12:28:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/btagro.com\/new\/wordpress\/a-look-at-the-cold-water-carp-farming-system-in-darjeeling\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T05:59:06","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T02:29:06","slug":"a-look-at-the-cold-water-carp-farming-system-in-darjeeling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/btagro.com\/en\/a-look-at-the-cold-water-carp-farming-system-in-darjeeling\/","title":{"rendered":"A look at the cold water carp farming system in Darjeeling"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Fish farming in concrete ponds with flowing water, called jhora, in the hills of West Bengal is not only helping the people of the region to achieve a healthy diet, but also contributing to increasing family income.<\/p>\n

The jhora farming system is a unique method of raising cold-water fish in artificial tanks, watered by mountain springs.<\/p>\n

Jit Bahadu Subba, a retired government employee, lives in the remote village of Reang in the hills of Kalimpong district in West Bengal.<\/p>\n

At 61, he found it difficult to procure food items, especially vegetables and fruits, from the market due to transportation problems in the hilly region and financial constraints.<\/p>\n

But now he is confident that his family gets enough protein.<\/p>\n

He relies on a pond, locally called jhora, located within his homestead to provide his family with fish.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe live in a remote area surrounded by hills. The local markets don\u2019t always have a lot of fruits and vegetables, but Jhora makes up for it by providing fish. My concrete pond is about 43 x 33 feet and 3.5 feet deep. I released 1,000 fingerlings, mostly common and grass carp, into it eight months ago. We feed them rice bran, organic manure and soybeans. Last year, 50 fish died due to the extreme cold in the area. The rest survived and weighed half a kilogram. We catch them when needed. The fish taste good and some are also sold to neighbors who have made reservations. This pond helps me to increase my income.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeet is not alone. More than 6,000 local residents are engaged in fish farming using the Jhora method in the hills of Darjeeling district near Kalimpong, most of which is for the farmers’ own consumption and a small portion is sold.<\/p>\n

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Jit Bahadur Subba is one of the 6,000 natives of West Bengal who farm fish in Jhora<\/p>\n

What is Jhora farming?<\/h4>\n

Jhora fish farming is a method of keeping fish in artificial tanks, watered by ever-boiling mountain springs. It is a unique method of cold-water fish farming that is practiced only in the snow-capped hills of Darjeeling and Kalimpong in India. These areas attract tourists from all over the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this method, we [farmers] choose a small plot of land, usually outside our house, and build a tank in it. The size of the tanks varies depending on the land. The water is brought to the tank through long pipes that are connected to streams flowing in the hills. These streams are just a few meters away from the tank. “Water flows continuously around the clock, helping to maintain oxygen levels. A small outlet is also made in the tank to drain excess water. This excess water contains fish waste, which provides rich organic fertilizer for agriculture. Fish farming continues throughout the year, and the fish that are harvested are consumed by the family.”<\/p>\n

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The fresh water from the local streams that flowed non-stop and day and night in Jahora keeps the oxygen level constant.<\/p>\n

According to senior fisheries officials, the dimensions of the tank depend on the region. “The area is full of hills and uneven terrain, which makes it difficult to build large tanks,” said Sartak Pradam, fisheries development officer in Darjeeling district. Once a year, we provide them with fry, net and feed. “We used to pay a subsidy of 8,000-10,000 rupees ($105-130) to the farmers to build the tank, but in the last two years, the government has not paid such a subsidy.”<\/p>\n

Considering the simplicity of this system, it may seem strange that it is used only in the Darjeeling hills, but there are reasons why this method is not so widespread.<\/p>\n

Partha Pratim Das, Deputy Director of Fisheries, West Bengal, explains that the hills of North Bengal are still untouched and pollution-free in many areas. This situation is not seen in other parts of India.<\/p>\n

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Much of the land in the hills of North Bengal is still untouched and free from pollution, a condition not seen in other parts of India.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are lucky that in North Bengal we have dense forests that provide us with uninterrupted water supply for most of the year. People are nature lovers and worship local water sources. They build fences around these sources to prevent them from getting polluted. The water in this area is rich in minerals that help the fish grow. Water that is not polluted spreads the least disease. The average size of the tanks ranges from 23 x 10 feet to over 40 x 15 feet and sometimes even bigger, depending on the location of the land. On an average, each jhora is stocked with 1,000 fish.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jahora is fed with fresh water from mountain streams<\/p>\n

The roots of Jahora fish farming system<\/h4>\n

Jahora fish farming started in the early 1980s when the government got involved and built concrete ponds for the villagers to promote fish farming and ensure healthy diets for them.<\/p>\n

Pawan Bhutia, a 65-year-old farmer in Kalimpong district, said: “We have been raising fish for years but the method was different. In the past, we used to dig small ponds in the ground near the stream and release the baby fish in it. The creek ensured access to water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But the government formalized this system and built cement tanks for us in 1982 to attract more people to fish farming. The government started fish farming by setting up 9 small units (13.0 m2) to study fish growth at this altitude. From the economic point of view, appropriate fishes that survived in these conditions were selected. The results were encouraging. After 9 months, approximately 100-120 kg of meal size fish were harvested from Jahora pool. This production encouraged the authorities to start large-scale fish farming in the hills, and local residents received a 50 percent subsidy to build ponds.<\/p>\n

At present, there are 5,000 Jahora (tanks) in Kalimpong and Darjeeling hills.<\/p>\n

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Currently, there are 5,000 Jahora (tanks) in the Kalimpong and Darjeeling hills.<\/p>\n

The poor was identified for fish farming<\/h4>\n

In 2018, the state government built tanks for financially disadvantaged local residents through the West Bengal Accelerated Development of Suburban Irrigation (ADMI) project.<\/p>\n

“We identified more than 500 people who were eligible for assistance for the first time,” recalled Bijoy Damin Gurung, a community mobilization specialist at the non-profit organization Disha for project implementation. We dug the ground for the tank and covered the bottom and edges of the tank with blue polyethylene sheets. These sheets were used in order to reduce the cost of production, as the construction of a cement tank requires a high cost of 70,000 rupees ($919). But using polyethylene sheets reduces this cost to a third. In addition, we prepared 150 tilapia, common carp, grass carp and roha carp for them. Fish were fed with commercial feed. Our goal was to attract natives of the region to breed in Jahora. “From then on, we distribute 150 fry to them every year.”<\/p>\n

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In 2018, tanks were built for the economically disadvantaged by the West Bengal Accelerated Development of Minor Irrigation (ADMI) project.<\/p>\n

The farmers said they procure fingerlings from the local market and the eggs are released into the tanks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feed them with organic manure, wheat and rice bran. It takes about six months for grass carp to reach 1.5 kg, but common carp grows to half a kg in the same period,\u201d said Bimal Bai, a farmer from Manchu Sakyong in Kalimpong. \u201cWe keep about 150 fish in the tank.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 35-year-old farmer has a 15×10-foot tank with a water level of 2 feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur equipment includes rods, nets, pipes for water supply and a valve at the outlet to prevent the fish from escaping. “In addition, we sprinkle a mixture of lime and potassium in the water every 15 days to keep disease away from the fish.”<\/p>\n

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Sarad Rai is a farmer of Jhora in Kalimpong, India<\/p>\n

High mortality rate<\/h4>\n

The project has faced serious problems. Species like tilapia and rudd were unable to adapt to the cold water conditions of the hills in winter and died.<\/p>\n

Kumadou Chatri, a 34-year-old farmer in Sakyon village in Kalimpong, said he released about 150 tilapia into the pond in 2021, but last December, 80 fish died in the cold water.<\/p>\n

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Komadoi Chhetri struggles to cope with high fish mortality in cold weather<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a cold winter and the fish could not adapt to the weather conditions. But the mortality was also high in 2019, with 130 of the 150 fry dying. We tried to harvest some of them, but so far, the results have not been good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Apart from the high mortality, other problems have arisen in the fish ponds, leading to their loss and serious economic losses.<\/p>\n

Many of the tanks in Jhora need repairs and have cracks that lead to water leakage and damage to the fish harvest. The high mortality is a concern for farmers.<\/p>\n

\u201cCold weather often makes it difficult for fish coming from temperate hatcheries to adapt and they suffer from stress,\u201d said Pradam, the fisheries development officer. “The mortality rate can be as high as 50 percent, but that doesn’t always happen. The ideal temperature for fish growth is between 20 and 26 degrees. But here, the temperature drops below 20 degrees in winters.”<\/p>\n

Kalimpong Model<\/h4>\n

Partha Pratim, deputy director of fisheries, recommends a new method of fish farming, which he calls the “Kalimpong Model,” which he believes will minimize mortality in the Jhora tanks.<\/p>\n

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Recently, farmers and fisheries officials have been implementing the \u2018Kalimpong model\u2019 to minimise fish mortality in the Jhora system.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe state government has constructed a tank house with iron bars and blue polyethylene sheets as per our suggestion. The PVC tank inside has a storage capacity of up to 5,000 fingerlings. Last year, we released 4,000 fingerlings, most of which were local species like rainbow trout and others, and the mortality rate was only 5 per cent. Most of them were fed floating pellets with starter (0.8 mm) and grow-out (up to 2 mm size) diets. Water at a temperature below 20\u00b0C was initially kept in a tank and then the water was cascaded into the fish tank to maintain oxygen levels,\u201d says Pratim.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe identified 90 eligible people and built nine polyethylene tank houses for them,\u201d he argues. Cement tanks typically have a capacity to hold 16,000 liters of water, while these tanks can hold up to 20,000 liters. Cement tanks also crack after a few years, which doesn\u2019t happen with polyethylene tank houses.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In the “Kalimpong model,” tank houses are built with metal rods and polyethylene sheets, with a storage capacity of 5,000 fry.<\/p>\n

Many Jhora farmers believe their ponds – and their way of life – have a future.<\/p>\n

“As long as these hills provide us with natural water, we don’t worry about our health. We have fish to feed and nature to admire. Long live the mountains,” says Rai with a smile.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fish farming in concrete ponds with flowing water, called jhora, in the hills of West Bengal is not only helping … <\/i>Read more<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6554,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[352,353,395,350,354],"tags":[356,363],"class_list":["post-6960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aquatic-economy","category-carp","category-economic-production","category-news-and-articles","category-professional-breeder","tag-carp","tag-363"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btagro.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/btagro.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/btagro.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btagro.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btagro.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6960"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/btagro.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6961,"href":"https:\/\/btagro.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6960\/revisions\/6961"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btagro.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btagro.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btagro.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btagro.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}