Tag: rescue

Shortage of high-quality fingerlings (young fish) is a major issue in the aquaculture sector. This has driven companies to establish  hatcheries to fast-track  their  production. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

Catfish is one of the most popular fish in Nigeria. It’s an easy, economical fish for farmers to raise and sell.

While they are prolific breeders, farmers have discovered that some of them  are  stunted in growth,hence too small to market profitably.

To address this, breeders exploring farms where they can buy good fingerlings that will mature quickly into bigger, more uniformly-sized fish to bring in tidy profits for them.

While this is possible from industry report, farmers say it is difficult for owners of such breed stocks to sell to competing farms.

To this end, farms with big dreams have resorted to building their hatcheries to grow their own foundation stocks.

One of such farms is Premium Aquaculture Limited, Epe, which   has established a farm and hatchery with the capacity of producing 4,500 tonnes of fish yearly when all its ponds are ready.

The company is operating a fully integrated system, including broodstock selection and maintenance, hatchery/ nursery operations, grow out and distribution of catfish and tilapia. The company has mapped out an investment portfolio of about $100 million in the production of African catfish and tilapia to the annual production level of 4,500 and 15,000 metric tonnes.

At its Epe location, the farm has started catfish production in more than 15 large earthen ponds out of the planned 90.

According to the farm Project Manager, Sarvesh Pandey, the entry into the aquaculture business is to key into the Federal Government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) and to help bridge the gap in fish supply shortfall.

Having plans to expand fish production nationally, Pandey  said  fish hatcheries are a key component of the fish value-chain. This is because they provide  feeder stocks which fish farmers require to sustain supply.

For watchers, the non-availability of good starter stocks is a primary constraint on the broader development of fish farming. In most cases, most fish farmers depend on supplies of fingerlings transported over long distance, resulting in considerable losses.

This  is what Pandey would like  to avoid. To other fish farmers, the challenge is that fingerlings are available at a high cost, but  are not quality breed for them to nurture to maturity.

Having addressed this, Pandey  sees the hatchery producing thousands of fish each year and getting sufficient supplies to meet increasing market demands nationwide.

The company foresees some marketing advantages that will partially offset the competitive environment they will face as its operations expand.

All of their fish will be domestically produced with highly traceable raw materials, and free of mercury, pollutants and carcinogens. Maximising water utilisation and environmental impacts will also allow the company to reach out to environmentally-conscious consumers.

The  company is planning for a second hatchery as part of another fish farm to be established in Abeokuta.

The cheery news is that the company would provide employment opportunity for about 500 Nigerians in the two establishments.

He said the company would train local experts that would work in the two farms, saying that a lot of researches have been carried out on what species of fish to invest on and where to start the production.

He hinted that the company would be committing an investment worth about $100 million on the production of  catfish and tilapia fish in both Epe and Abeokuta farms, adding that the company has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ogun-Oshun River Basin Development Authority to go into tilapia fish farming.

He explained: “We are doing the cage culture in Oyin River Dam in Ogun. We have acquired six hectares of land there and we are already planning that around 150kg of fish will be farmed there. So if it is done, we are planning around 15,000 metric tonnes there.”

On Epe farm, we have the plan of 4,500 metric tonnes of catfish every year.

Farm Manager, Jagadeesha Gowda, said the farm in Epe has been able to stock  seven ponds out of the projected 90 since it started in January, saying the remaining ponds would be stocked subsequently, as shortage of fingerlings has been hindering production of fish in the country.

He said the company decided to get involved in the hatchery business to raise fingerling for its catfish production that the company sells in the local market.

To farmers, fingerlings, or young fish, are to aquaculture what seeds are to rice farming. Without good fingerlings, a successful harvest is impossible.

To produce good stock however,  it requires good quality of water supply and improved hatchery management practices.

The company’s hatchery is expected to produce more than 100,000 fingerlings which will be stocked into nursery ponds.

He explained that the hatchery is poised to play an important role supporting the expansion of the fish farm by providing the fish stock.

The set-up  according to him,  is to have  a good recirculating aquaculture system (RAS): uncomplicated, user-friendly and well-built. Right now, the project  is bound to succeed due in large part, to a range of technologies introduced by the aquaculture specialist.

As hatchery supervisor, he takes a paternal pride in the catfish raised there.

During the hatchery process, Beniga takes eggs and milt, or sperm, from female and male fish, and fertalises them. Typically, the  hatcheries grow fish for commercial production. He pours the fertilised eggs from one female into a tray in the incubation room. After incubation, the fingerlings are then transferred to nursery tanks.

Across the room , circulation pumps generate currents to “exercise” the fish.

He  works  with the  hatchery technicians to monitor and manage water clarity and nutrients in the ponds, resulting in better fingerlings. Species-specific nutrition programmes and proper stocking densities are observed  to help facilitate rapid growth.

Beniga helps the workers to monitor, as well as detect and respond to diseases early to maximise fingerlings growth.

As hatchery supervisor, hetakes a paternal pride in the catfish raisedthere.

His major assignment is managing  the hatcheries  process. Through experience, he tries to minimise genetic risk by selecting fish that return at different times and breeding with as many different parents as possible. However, in recent years, catfish producers have been struggling to keep their heads above water, avoiding the waves of a slow economy, high feed costs, and fish imports from foreign countries.

To help farmers, West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP) is looking at breeding, nutrition, genetics, and management practices to produce a better catfish.

Floods ravaged many parts of the country last year, destroying crops and livestock. To  help farmers, the Japanese government, working with the National Cereals Research Institute (NCRI) in Niger State, is distributing flood-resistant rice seeds to farmers. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

With sea levels rising and weather conditions worsening, plant scientists continue to search for ways to save agricultural plants from environmental threats to sustain food supply.

Countries are in need of crop varieties that can tolerate higher temperature and drought, survive prolonged flooding and soil salinity.

Being the primary staple food of 70 per cent of the population, the demand for rice has increased astronomically over the years. However, rice variety grown within the country is prone to flooding.

This is also because there are many farms close to rivers, marshes and swamps across the country.

With the flooding last year, rice shortage was a major threat which the government struggled to avert.

This is because the massive flooding destroyed large parcels of rice farmland in the North and some part of the middle belt, opening the possibility of higher prices and leaving the region at greater risk of a food price shock.

For experts, the scale of the floods was unprecedented, so was its  threat on regional food security.

Therefore, the development of rice seeds that are resistant to floods and droughts is wellcome development  to farmers.

The  good news  is  coming  from scientists at the National Cereals Research  Institute (NCRI), Badeggi, Niger State.

Hoping to help farmers adapt to the vagaries of climate change, the  scientists  developed rice seeds that are resistant to droughts and floods, the twin scourges that annually threaten the livelihoods of poor farmers in the country as well as in lowland areas.

Supported by the Japan Rice  Emergency Initiative (JERI) hosted by   foremost  rice  research  institute  in Africa, Africa Rice, Benin Republic, the scientists believe the new seeds will be a boon for famers suffering from the impacts of climate change.

Speaking during the kick off of rice seeds to vulnerable farmers in Benue and Nasarawa states, in Lafia, NCRI Executive Director, Dr Mark Ukwungwu  said the   assistance  provided  by the Japanese government  through the  JERI 11 project would increase food security.

He said the project kicked off in Nigeria with an awareness/ sensitisation meeting  with key players on rice  production in May last year at NCRI’s  headquarters.

JERI11 project has a target of producing 60 certified seeds of faros 44,52 and 61 at wet and dry seasons.

Working  with  the Federal  Government and the JICA, Ukwungwu said NCRI produced seeds  that  were purchased from it  and  distributed to seed outgrowers for  production.

The foundation seeds, packed in 25 kg bags are to be distributed to each vulnerable rice farmer for multiplication on 0.5 hectare of land this year.

At harvest ,each farmer will retrain 50 kg of certified  seed to be shared to other farmers  in his/her own community and keep the balance for personal  use.

This way, he explained that more and more vulnerable farmers will be given the opportunity to use and produce quality seeds.

To further assist the institute, Ukwungwu said Africa Rice has donated two milling machines, two power tillers and two threshers for the purpose of research.

Coordinator, JERI11, NCRI, Dr Myimaorga Abo sees many farming families lifted out of rural poverty while the region will emerge as a leading area in rice cultivation.

According to him, this is because for years, the communities  languished at the economic backwater, depending on growing subsistence crops.

He said  there is tremendous effort to double domestic rice production. This has led to the establishment of rice sector development hubs to boost production.

He said Benue and Nasarawa were selected for rain-fed lowland ecology. According to him, the rice sector development hubs are zones where  rice research outputs will be  integrated across  the rice value chain to achieve development outcomes and impact.

Abo believes an evolving rice industry is laying the foundation for long-term economic vitality for the communities involved.

While the institute is ready to provide field-tested rice lines that are tolerant to flooding, NCRI is  ready also to assist government agencies and private seed companies to multiply and distribute seeds to farmers at a faster pace.

Commissioner for Agriculture and Water Resources, Nasarawa State, Danladi Usha Madaki said the government has put in so much effort towards shifting attention of farmers from using saved seeds as a major planting material to other unexplored areas byAgricultural Development Programmes(ADPs) and government Growth Enhancement Support (GES)to meet high productivity through transfer of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) to farmers.

He noted, however, that many farmers do not have access to improved quality rice seed due to poor road network, distance from selling point, high poverty level, non availability when it is needed and others which has posed a challenge to the use of quality rice seeds and which results in poor yield output at harvest.

He commended the Japanese government, Africa Rice and NCRI for the initiative and discovering   this group of farmers to support with quality seed in the three states of Benue, Kano and Nasarawa.

He added that effective transfer of rice farming knowledge on high quality seeds to farmers, particularly t across Nasarawa State where rice production has crucial role to play will reduce  poverty, hunger and bridge importation gap.

He reiterated the commitment of the state government towards enhancing agricultural production and cultivation of rice.

In 2010 cropping season, he said the total area put into rice production was 98,220 hectare with an average yield of 264,930 metric tonnes while in 2011, a total area put into rice was 115,100 hectares with an average yield of 305,900 metric tonnes.

He said Emergency Rice Initiative II will help raise productivity and  achieve the goal of commercial rice production as envisaged under the Nigeria National Rice Development Strategy (NRDS).

Regional Representative of Africa Rice Nigeria, Dr Francis Nwilene commended the Japanese government for financing Emergency Rice Initiative Project II.

Represented by   Seed System Specialist, Dr  Gbenga Akinwale, Nwilene noted that JERI was designed to increase access of smallholder farmers to quality rice seeds.

Nwilene maintained that seed is a critical and vital input essential to enhance productivity of rice.

His said: ”It is estimated that the direct contribution of quality seed to the total crop production is about 15 – 20 per cent.  It is also estimated that for every 10per cent increase in farm yield due to the use of quality seed will result into seven per cent in poverty reduction in Africa and five per cent reduction in Asia. Quality seed not only increases productivity per unit area, but also helps to produce uniform crops without any mixtures which produce high milling recovery and better quality rice.

Consequently, he said the rice transformation agenda was designed to optimise the use of seeds of wide range of agronomically superior high yielding stress tolerant rice varieties seeds, fertiliser and other best agricultural practices to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production.

He said   Africa Rice is committed to poverty alleviation and food security in Africa, through research and development.

Chief Representative, Japan International Cooperation Agency, Mr Tetsuo Seki said JICA is fully commitment to working with the Nigerian government to achieve its target of self-sufficiency in rice production by next year.

He said his government with many other stakeholders within the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARI), aim to double rice production in Africa within a 10 year activity from 2008 to 2018. For Nigeria, the target is to increase paddy production from 3.4 million tonnes of paddy in 2007 to 13.27 million tonnes by the year 2018.

He said Japan has been supporting the Japan Emergency Rice Initiative through AfricaRice since 2009.

The objective of the initiative, he maintained is to boost rice production and reduce post-harvest losses in 25 sub-Saharan African countries through the distribution of rice seeds to vulnerable farmers.

He called on the NCRI to make all efforts to raise the awareness of farmers and extension agents on the need to plant good quality seeds and build their capacity in all areas related to rice farming.

He said the role of NCRI in general seed production and distribution system cannot be over emphasised.

Deputy Director, Cereals and Desk Officer, Rice Value Chain, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Victor Ekezie Onyeneke  said  agricultural research and technologies  would  reduce vulnerability, when improved varieties of rice seeds and other inputs are made available to poor rice farmers.

He expressed hope that JERI will   impact on vulnerable rice farmers and improve their livelihoods.

For decades, rice makes up 80 per cent of every meal in the country. Thus, it’s a concern that the staple  is so vulnerable to elements.

Recent events have shown that resilient varieties will continue to play a role in disaster risk reduction.