Netting A Silvery Treasure: The Haryana Farmer Who Farms Fish, Earns Rs 60 Lakh A Year
Sushil Kumar of Karnal, Haryana is today earning lakhs of rupees from fish farming business and has become an example for others.
Published : October 31, 2025 at 12:14 PM IST
Karnal: Not every Haryanvi aspires to be a wrestler. Some don't even want to cultivate sugarcane, maize or wheat. Twenty-five years ago, one decided to go completely leftfield.
When Sushil Kumar of Kamalpur Rodan village in Karnal district decided to farm fish in a two-acre pond in his village that he leased from the panchayat, he received long stares. After all, back in the year 2000, few in Haryana consumed animal protein, and even fewer, fish. Add to that a product that needed huge water supplies in a water deficit state, and it all seemed wonky to many.
But Sushil Kumar was undeterred. He had noticed a gap in the market, and after completing Class X, he joined the National Dairy Research Institute in Karnal to receive training in fish farming. When the pond he leased to start farming fish turned a substantial profit the first year, he went full steam ahead.
A Progressive Outlook To Farming
His hard work and progressive outlook has been paying rich dividends ever since. Already in 2002, he had diversified into shrimp farming. By 2005, Kumar had set up a fish seed hatchery on seven acres of his farm, while growing fish for sale on the remaining eight acres. Today, he earns Rs 40 lakh annually from the hatchery, and Rs 20 lakh from the fish he grown, earning an enviable Rs 60 lakh from burgeoning fish farm.
Kumar cultivates around eight types of fish on his farm, including shrimp, rohu, catla, grass carp, and pangas. He said he supplies "seed" to states like Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, earning good profits. For the fish he grown himself, the destination is Delhi's fish mandi.
Today, Kumar is counted as a progressive farmer in Haryana. In recognition of his model, the Haryana government and its fisheries department awarded him the state's number one shrimp farmer in 2005, while in 2006, he received the second prize in shrimp farming.
Inspiration To Farmers From Near And Afar
In his nearly 25-year-long journey, thousands of farmers from Haryana and neighbouring states have visited his fish farm to learn from and be inspired by him. He says nearly 300 farmers have got into fish farming because of him, adding that it is heartening for him to see people come to learn from him.
And that also includes people from countries like Australia, China, and Japan, who have visited his farm several times to learn from his farming model, praising his work as they left.
Not everything has been hunky dory for Sushil Kumar. In 2015, he was involved in a major road accident that resulted in a serious injury to one of his legs. Despite this serious accident, Sushil did not give up and continued his work.
Coming from a farming family, love of nature came naturally to Kumar. Even as his fish farm and business grew, he kept planting fruit and shade trees along the edges of his ponds, which makes his farm stand out from afar today. There are around 8-10 types of fruit trees, including mango, guava, blackberries, sapota, and lemon, along the pond, whose fruits he also sells, earning him an extra buck.
High Praise From High Places
Pisciculture expert Pradeep, who works at the Krishi Vigyan Kendra of the National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, said after visiting Kumar's farm that Sushil is a progressive farmer who has inspired hundreds of others to take up fish farming.
"Fish is a great source of protein. In India, we rely on many sources for protein, but fish has a high protein content, so fish farming should be widely adopted to meet India's protein deficiency, keeping people healthy while improving the financial standing of the farmers."
Shamsher Singh, who visited his farm, said Kumar trains others in his fish farming techniques selflessly. He highlighted that not only does Kumar farm fish, but also grows mushrooms and earthworms.
All these multifarious activities makes Kumar one of the most progressive farmers of Haryana, someone who has set multiple records in fish farming in the face of a variety of challenges. His story is an inspiration for others to never give up, no matter how difficult the challenges are.
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