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| Photo credit: Segun |
Catfish
farming is becoming more popular than ever before; even new entrants in the
industry have started to make fortune from the business. Catfish is a good
source of protein, essential vitamins and minerals. Agropreneurs are making
more money by adding value to catfish through the use of Smoking Kiln,
Packaging material and Branding. Specially smoked catfish are on high demand and
highly priced at local and international market. Smoking kiln is effective in
drying the catfish to safe moisture content which makes it suitable for export,
even, with the use of smoking kiln, nutritional quality, taste, aroma and colour
are greatly improved. There are many ways to start making money in catfish
farming, some of them includes; Pond Construction, Materials and equipment supply,
Feed Production, Hatchery, Catfish production, Catfish Processing and Export. Annual Net Profit/Sales of enterprise producing
Fish seeds (Fingerlings/Juveniles), Fresh catfish and smoked catfish are
53.37%, 54.84% and 57.78% respectively.
Some
catfish farmers share their experiences with Agropreneur zone;
“I
got my smoking kiln from Nigerian Institute
for Oceanography and Marine Research (NIOMR) in Lagos” said Barrister
Raymos, CEO, Raymos Guanah Farms.
Smoking kiln varies in size, capacity, batch process and ultimately its efficiency. The price of smoking kiln ranges fromN100,000 - N500,000. A well packaged and branded dried catfish can be sold between N900 - N1000 compared to fresh catfish normally sold for N500
Segun Akande, a notable fish farmer also said that FIIRO has smoking kiln. He continued by saying,
Smoking kiln varies in size, capacity, batch process and ultimately its efficiency. The price of smoking kiln ranges from
Segun Akande, a notable fish farmer also said that FIIRO has smoking kiln. He continued by saying,
“At
the end of the day, it's all about the numbers - how much you've spent, how
many kilograms you realised and how much the market is willing to pay for.
That's when you realise that Agric. is a business, the point where the books
don't balance for some and they run away saying 'agric doesn't pay'. So it
helps to start with the mindset of cost control and funds optimization. Allow
the first cycle to be a trial session, preferably hands on. That experience
alone will open your eyes to a lot and prevent rip-offs later on. Another
challenge at the end of the cycle is during harvest try getting buyers about
two weeks before the actual harvest. Having multiple buyers will mitigate
disappointment and aid competition. You may also have to see how you can get
paid fully in cash, although what really happens is part payment and balance is
made afterwards.
Again, what most people haven't really looked at is the
processing/smoking and distributing (including export). Now that's where the
money really is. Another lucrative and often over looked part is hatching.
Total hatching cost per 1,000 is less than N2.
Yet in 8 weeks, profit is over 400%! This figure may vary, but not by much. If
at all, the variation is northwards. Finally, the greatest challenge and the
most cost is feeding (over 70% of total expenditure). There's a great
opportunity in 'financing feeding' for catfish farmers. Financiers can either
be paid in cash or they take the equivalent in kilogram which can then be
processed and sold. LAPO Microfinance
Bank is presently offering financing to some farmers here in Ikorodu”
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| Photo credit: Adeniyi |
Bolaji
Adebola, a pig farmer in Ijebu-Ode, started catfish barely two months ago as at
the time of writing this article, he advised that management culture and what
we feed our fishes should be major concern. He further said that, “Concrete
ponds are a bit expensive to construct because of high material consumption rate
(Cement, 9 inches bricks, etc). A concrete pond requires expertise to avoid
collapse. Getting the right seeds (fingerlings) matters a lot, we were lucky to
get good once with very low death rate and fast growing. We change water once every
3/4 days. Feed them with Coppens, Durante Multi feeds (alternatively). We have
also been blessed with dead chickens from a nearby poultry we cook and serve to
both pigs and fishes. The fishes consume a whole chicken within 20 minutes. So
far it’s been interesting, I think I love catfish farming, seeing them grow is
joyful”.
“Fish
farming is a great viable farming activity. Fish farming is undoubtedly one of
the fastest growing agriculture enterprises in Nigeria. The importance of
fisheries to the Nigeria economy is indicated by its contribution to the gross
domestic product being 5.4% in 2002. Nigerians are high fish consumers with total
current consumption figures of about 1.5 million metric tons. The contribution
of fisheries to the nation economy is very significant in term of employment, income
generation, poverty alleviation, foreign exchange earnings and provision of raw
materials for the animal feed industry. The feed has to do with the growth of
the Fish.
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| Photo credit: Damilola |
Fingerlings
+ Good feeds = Good Table sized fish.
How
to calculate the quantity of feed required - The quantity of feed required to
feed fish daily can be calculated if the stocking density and the average
weight of fish can be estimated, this can be done by sampling the fish either
biweekly or monthly. For example, if a farmer has 100 fingerlings of 10grams
average weight in 1 hectare of fish farm. The daily feed requirement at 5%
feeding rate will be;
F=W
x S x P / 1000 x100 =10 x 1000 x 5 / 1000 x 100 = 0.5 kg/ha
Where
F is Weight of feed, W is weight of fish, S is stocking rate, P is percentage
body weight. The fact is each fish farmer has his own style of feeding. When
the Average weight [grams] is 10-50, I feed them 2 times in a day, morning and
evening. Major types of ponds include; Earthen ponds, Concrete ponds [Homestead
pond], Recirculatory, Tarpaulin and Collapsible tanks can be used too” Fasakin,
an agro-allied entrepreneur submitted.
In conclusion,
for a successful fish farming, it is important to consider, material &
equipment quality, pond type, fingerlings quality, water availability &
quality, feed type, management practice and target market.
Share your thoughts, ideas and experience with us. Comment below!!!