Employment Generation, Entrepreneurship Development, and Economic Gain in Aspirational Districts of West Bengal, India

Abstract

Keshab Chandra Dhara, Suprava Roy, Shrestha Roy, Paramita Dasgupta, Disha Banerjee, Biman Sarkar and Aditi Datta

The Biotech-KISAN Hub programme implemented by the West Bengal University of Animal & Fishery Sciences (WBUAFS) represents a pioneering biotechnology-driven model for sustainable livelihood transformation in five aspirational districts of West Bengal—Nadia, Murshidabad, Birbhum, Malda, and Dakshin Dinajpur. The present study evaluates the programme’s impact on employment generation, entrepreneurship development, productivity enhancement, and economic gain across livestock and aquaculture systems. Integrated interventions encompassing elite germplasm dissemination, nutritional optimization, bio-probiotics, farm schools, digital advisory platforms, and Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) were deployed among 2,180 farmers. Results indicated significant gains in productivity of Black Bengal goats (+8.87% body weight; +8.59% kidding rate), Vanaraja poultry (+17.95% growth; +14.71% egg production), and Indian Major Carps (+20.87% yield; +15.42% survivability). Annual household income increased by 30–40%, generating over 54,000 additional rural workdays annually. Women constituted 62% of beneficiaries, with 162 micro-enterprises and seven FPCs established. The study demonstrates that biotechnology-enabled convergence models aligned with DBT’s BioE3 framework (Economy–Environment–Employment) can deliver scalable, climate-resilient rural bio economy solutions in aspirational regions.

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