It seems that each coming week, a problem in the agriculture sector crops up. First the importation of galunggong, sugar and other veggies. Then came the controversial Sugar Order No. 4 and then salt shortage. Now the problem is high cost of fish feeds and lack of bangus and tilapia fries.
Operators of fishponds raising tilapia and bangus are being haunted by two major problems: the high cost of fish feeds and the lack of fish fry for these species.
A story of the inquirer said various fish farm groups have reported their feed conversion ratio (FCR) — or the ratio of the number of kilos of feeds needed to produce a kilo of fish—has gone haywire.
David Villaluz, chair of Philippine Association of Fish Producers Inc., said that in Visayas farms, a kilogram of bangus used to consume 1.2 to 1.6 kg of feeds to grow large enough to be harvested. The FCR has since increased to 1.8 to 2 kilos of fish feeds.
“A higher FCR translates to a P10 per kilo increase in production cost. Add the P4 per kilo increase in feeds cost [and] the total increase in production cost is P14. Small fish farms may not be able to bear these additional costs,” he said.
The problem has also affected nearly half of fish pond operators in Mindanao, according to Joseph Anthony Lanzar, president of Malalag Bay Fish Cage Operators and Fisherfolks Association.
Their FCR, Lanzar said, was now “higher than ever” at 2.4 to 2.6. On top of this, they were also experiencing a shortage of fish fry. “The fry being shipped from Indonesia is often of low quality,” he added.
Importing PAPs
To alleviate the feeds shortage, the aquaculture sector asked the government in April to allow them to bring in processed animal proteins (PAPs) from countries hit by the African swine fever (ASF). Will ASF not be ingested by humans in fish?
The government had imposed a temporary ban in 2019, which it lifted in August, but only for aquatic feed use.
But last week, the National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. reiterated its appeal for a ban on PAP importation to avoid hampering the ongoing fight against ASF, particularly now that the hog sector has been posting positive growth.
According to the group, it was not against importing PAP only if they come from countries that were free of ASF.
Central hatchery needed
Fish farmers groups have also proposed the implementation of the Brood Stock Project to lower the cost of fish farming in the country.
“We need a central hatchery to provide adequate fry to our growers. This way, we can stop our dependence on Indonesia. We are not getting consistent fry quality from them. It can range from Class A to Class C fry, depending on the seller,” Villaluz said.
“This is also where Indonesia got that idea because of the Seafdec (Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center) but they were the first to implement it,” he added.
Tags: #DA, #highcostoffishfeed, #lackofbangusandtilapiafries, #problemsofagriculture