Matsya Prajati Vividhikaran Yojana (Fish Species Diversification Scheme)

What is Matsya Prajati Vividhikaran Yojana?

Matsya Prajati Vividhikaran Yojana, the fish species diversification scheme, is run by the Directorate of Fisheries under the Animal and Fisheries Resources Department, Government of Bihar. The scheme pays up to 60 percent subsidy to fish farmers who move beyond ordinary carp polyculture into higher-value species; minor carp, catfish, freshwater shrimp and freshwater pearl culture.

According to the Directorate of Fisheries, the components are costed per 0.5 acre unit:

Applicants must hold a pond of between 0.25 and 1 acre, owned, leased or otherwise validly held. The scheme is open to fish farmers, cultivators, self-help groups, farmer producer organisations and aquapreneurs.

The problem the scheme addresses is a real one in Bihar. Almost every pond in the state grows the same three or four Indian major carps; rohu, catla, mrigal, and they all come to market at the same time, which flattens prices. Diversifying into magur, pangas, scampi or pearl gives a farmer a different harvest calendar, a different buyer, and in the case of pearl a product that does not spoil at all. Locally the scheme is spoken of as matsya prajati vividhikaran, and it is usually described alongside the department's pond construction schemes rather than in place of them.

Who is eligible for the fish diversification subsidy?

You can apply if:

• You are a resident of Bihar and hold a pond of 0.25 to 1 acre by ownership, registered lease or other valid right.
• You are an individual fish farmer, a cultivator, a self-help group, a farmer producer organisation or an aquapreneur.
• You have an Aadhaar-seeded bank account in the applicant's own name or the group's name.
• You can bear the 40 percent beneficiary share, since subsidy follows verification.
• Your pond is physically capable of supporting the species chosen, depth, water retention and inlet arrangements are assessed.

You cannot apply if:

• You have no pond. This component funds diversified stocking and allied inputs in an existing water body, not excavation; applicants without a water body are not eligible here and should look at the pond construction schemes on the same portal.
• Your water body is below 0.25 acre or above 1 acre for the unit claimed.
• You hold the pond on a verbal or unregistered arrangement with no documentary right.
• Your bank account is not Aadhaar-seeded, since payment is by DBT.
• You have already been sanctioned the same component on the same pond in an earlier year.
• You start the work before sanction: pre-sanction expenditure is not reimbursable.

How to apply for Matsya Prajati Vividhikaran Yojana

1. Open the Directorate of Fisheries portal at fisheries.bihar.gov.in.
2. Register with your name, mobile number and Aadhaar details, and note the login ID and password issued.
3. Log in and open the Matsya Prajati Vividhikaran Yojana form for the current financial year. If it is not listed, the window is closed.
4. Choose your component: minor carp, catfish and other species, shrimp, or pearl culture, and enter the pond area in acres.
5. Fill in your personal or group details, district, block and pond location.
6. Upload Aadhaar, pond ownership papers or the registered lease, bank passbook, photograph, and group registration papers if applying as a group.
7. Submit and save the application number from the confirmation screen. Print the acknowledgement.
8. Attend the site inspection by the District Fisheries Officer.
9. After sanction, establish and stock the unit, keeping bills for seed, feed and equipment, then request physical verification. The subsidy is released by DBT once the unit is certified.

How to apply with help

1. Visit the District Fisheries Office at your district headquarters and ask for the fisheries extension officer.
2. Carry Aadhaar, pond papers, bank passbook and photographs.
3. Ask the office to file the online application for you — the portal is the only route, but assisted filing is available at both the district office and a Vasudha Kendra (CSC).
4. Collect the printed acknowledgement with your application number.

Which component suits which farmer

Minor carp is the gentlest step up. Species such as bata, reba and kalbasu fit alongside major carps in the same pond, need no new skill, and the Rs 94,000 unit cost is the smallest commitment in the scheme.

Catfish and other species, magur, singhi, pangasius; tolerate low oxygen and shallow water, which suits Bihar's many small, poorly aerated ponds, and fetch a strong local price. This component demands better feed management than carp.

Freshwater shrimp (scampi) carries a higher price per kilo but is unforgiving: water quality, stocking density and predator control all have to be right, and a mistake shows up as total loss rather than reduced yield.

Freshwater pearl culture is the highest-value and by a distance the most technical. Mussels are surgically implanted with nuclei and cultured for a year or more, and the work needs formal training before a farmer commits Rs 2.24 lakh of unit cost. Anyone considering it should train first at a recognised institute and see a working unit before applying.

How to check your application and payment status

1. Log in to fisheries.bihar.gov.in with your registered ID and password.
2. Open the application status section on your dashboard.
3. The screen shows submitted, under scrutiny, inspected, sanctioned, verified or paid.
4. For a payment that shows released but has not arrived, check the account number and Aadhaar seeding on the bank passbook you uploaded, and follow up with the District Fisheries Officer.

Why fish diversification applications get rejected

• No documentary right over the pond, or a lease that is not registered.
• Pond area outside the 0.25 to 1 acre band for the component claimed.
• Pond technically unsuitable: insufficient depth, poor water retention, or no ability to drain and dry between cycles.
• Same component already sanctioned on the same water body.
• Work started before sanction, or bills predating the sanction order.
• Unit not established at verification, or stocked with a species other than the one sanctioned. This is treated as a false claim.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, which delays payment.
• District target exhausted for the financial year.

Key dates

Applications are invited in a notified window each financial year. The 2026-27 window has been reported as closing on 31 August 2026. Because the department opens several fisheries components at overlapping times on the same portal, pond construction, chaur development, fish seed hatchery and this diversification scheme: read the notice carefully to be sure you are applying under the right one. Confirm every date on fisheries.bihar.gov.in itself rather than on a secondary site, since windows are extended and revised.

Grievance and contact route

• Directorate of Fisheries, Bihar: through fisheries.bihar.gov.in
• District level: District Fisheries Officer at your district headquarters, who inspects, recommends and verifies
• Department: Animal and Fisheries Resources Department, Government of Bihar

Applying is free. Buy fish seed only from a recognised hatchery against a bill in your own name, the department will ask for it at verification, and poor-quality seed is the most common reason a diversified unit fails in its first cycle.