By Manny Piñol
There is always a lesson or two learned by moving around the countryside and meeting with stakeholders of agriculture and fisheries.
Yesterday, after a visit to the mariculture park of Malalag town in Davao del Sur, I was enlightened on the failure of the country to achieve fish sufficiency in spite of the fact that it is surrounded by bodies of water with so many coves and bays ideal for fish farming.
Talking to the stakeholders yesterday, I found out that there are at least three major issues holding back the development of the captured fisheries production program in the country.
1. Lack of bank financing for fish cage farming. This a very basic issue which prevents small stakeholders from engaging in fish farming.
With an investment requirement of at least P2.4-million per cage which could hold up to 80,000 fingerlings, the ordinary fish farmer simply could not afford to start the project.
No banks are willing to lend to a fish farmer who points to the blue sea as his farm because banks need titles and collaterals.
This is opportunity wasted because the Return-On-Investments, according to those involved in the business now, is tremendous with net earnings ranging from P700,000 to P1-M after six months.
2. Lack of Bangus Fry supply. This is a very basic issue which has not been given enough attention by government in the past.
Stakeholders told me that government intervention in this area has been very weak and the fry supply produced by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and the SEAFDEC is just to small compared to the actual demand.
There are commercial hatcheries operating in the country, including Saranggani Bay of ALSONS owned by the Alcantara-Dominguez family, but they could not produce enough forcing fish farmers to import Bangus fry from Indonesia and Taiwan.
3. High Cost of Feeds. This is another problem which has not been given focus by the government. In fact, it is not only in the aquaculture industry where the high cost of feeds adversely affects production.
This problem also holds true in the livestock industry resulting in a reduction of production in the backyard piggery and chicken raising.
To address all of these concerns, I will convene the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), an agency under the Department of Agriculture which is tasked with designing credit programs, to look into the possibility of opening a loaning window for aquaculture under the Production Loan Easy Access (PLEA) program which offers a year-long loan at 6% interest per year.
The BFAR and SEAFDEC will also be tasked with improving their field hatchery facilities and adding more hatcheries to supply the needs of the industry.
Lastly, I will meet with the private companies involved in the production of aqua feeds and encourage them to price their products reasonably so that the growth of the industry will be faster.
All of these issues will be addressed after the Holy Week.
(Photos by Mayette Tudlas.)
More Stories
Practical Farming: Turn Used Plastic Containers Into Life-Time Laying Nests!
Super Bulb Onion Grown In Alamada, North Cotabato
Kapehan With Pareng Gob