Expert advises aquaculture farmers to improve locally-made feed


 Mr Olufemi Falana, an aquaculture consultant, on Monday appealed to local catfish and tilapia farmers to improve their fish feed production to meet international standard.
He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that an international market was available for locally-made fish meal.
Falana stressed the need for capacity building to reduce heavy dependence on importation of foreign fish products.
The consultant said that there were raw materials available within the shores of Nigeria to facilitate the manufacturing process of the feed which, in turn, can create more opportunities for youths in agriculture.
The consultant, who also owns Agro Farms, said that the production of fish feed can reduce the over-dependence on imported fish feed and make additional profit.
``I would like the government to encourage more farmers to get more involved with local fish meal production because it reduces costs, increases profit in the value chain, and if you make it good enough it can be exported.
``Typically, the local feed is made from cassava extract, groundnut cake, maize orphan, chicken dung, fish meal, rice bran, bread chaff and palm kernel oil, among others, which can be found right here in Nigeria.
``Whenever I buy foreign feeds, I discovered that I was losing instead of gaining. So, I started buying corn and groundnut but still found that the cost of feeding the fishes was still high.
``So, I carried out some investigations to ascertain if rejected bread, rice bran, crayfish, corn and cake, among others can feed the fishes,’’ he said.
Falana said that the government must endeavour to aid farmers, to improve their capacity to be resourceful, by making funds easy to access.
``The government must understand that they have a major role to play in sensitising the farmers to produce better, and become more innovative by giving them a form of leverage.
``Leverage in terms of adequate financial resources to help with the production of locally-made fish feed, which will help reduce importation.
``And if they are good enough, they can be exported,’’ he said.
Falana lauded the government’s efforts so far, in diversifying the economy and provision of agricultural funds.

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