Small Steps, Big Dreams! Multi-Species Fish Hatchery To Produce 20-M Fingerlings

In a small portion of my farm in Kidapawan City, a uniquely designed building is rising to house a small but modern Multi-Species Fish Hatchery.
When completed and operationalized, this hatchery is expected to turn out some 20-million fingerlings of Cherry Snapper, a new Hybrid Tilapia to be known as SAAV Hybrid, Giant Gourami and Catfish.
It will also be the breeding facility for the threatened endemic species like Native Hito, Puyo (climbing perch) and the Liguasan Marsh Ulang.
This structure, designed and built by Filipino-American farmer-scientist Rocky French, symbolizes the small steps that I and the people who believe in my advocacies are taking in realizing the dream of a Food Sufficient Philippines.
Rocky, grandson of an American soldier from Kentucky who fought in the Spanish American War, decided to come home to the country where he was born to share his vast knowledge in Agriculture and Aquaculture.
It was Rocky, another American Moses Ku and my friend, Winchell Campos, who built the first prototype of the Solar-Powered Irrigation System when I was Agriculture Secretary.
Rocky also trained the officials of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), including the technical staff, in Tilapia breeding and rearing in his Fish Farm in Coachella Valley, Southern California.
Without the financial foundations, however, both Rocky and I just dreamed of building a model of a Complete Production Chain in both Aquaculture and Agriculture.
Three months ago, we saw hope that we would be able to do it at last.
This all started during the election campaign when I joined then Presidential Candidate Senator Panfilo Lacson as one of the Senate bets who espoused the Food Self-Sufficiency Advocacy for the country.
While I did not make it, I consider myself a big winner because I was able to bring my advocacies to the national consciousness and my biggest convert was no other than former Senator Lacson himself.
Right after the elections, Sen. Lacson and four of his friends and supporters formed a group to back me and Rocky in pursuing the Food Sufficiency Advocacy.
The group Southseas Agri-Aqua Ventures Corp. (SAAV Corp.) was formed composed of seven people, including me and Rocky, with Sen. Lacson as Chairman, Michael Ray Aquino as President and I as Chief Operations Officer.
Our real objective and target is to venture into Aquaculture and Livestock but to get there, I suggested that we first build the foundations to ensure a sustainable production program.
Aquaculture and Livestock’s greatest challenge is the cost of feeds because of the high cost and unpredictable supply of feed grains, including Corn and Wheat.
So we are now deeply involved in the production of Sorghum whose sustainable supply and lower price would provide us a competitive edge in feeds production.
We are also starting experiments on the planting of Alfalfa and Barley which we will be doing in coordination with two State Universities in Mindanao – my alma mater, University of Southern Mindanao, and the Central Mindanao University.
Then, we entered into a tolling arrangement with the Cotabato Livestock Producers Cooperative which owns a new but in-operational feed mill in Kidapawan City to produce and formulate our own feeds.
Finally, we are building the hatchery and nursery to ensure that our Aquaculture Project will have a sustained supply of freshwater and saltwater fish species.
When these foundations are established, the next step that we will take would be bigger – Fish Cage Farms and Ruminants Fattening Projects.
We take small step at a time to achieve the big dream of a Food Self-Sufficient Philippines.
#DreamsVisionOfTheFarmBoy!
#KungGustoMaramingParaan!