Under an “agricultural” President FIL-AM FISHERIES EXPERT SAYS 1.5-ACRES COULD EARN $1.2-M

By Manny Piñol

Coachella Valley, Southern California – Hotter than the desert heat in Coachella Valley near the Salton Sea in Southern California is the desire of a Filipino-American aquaculture expert to go home to his mother’s country of birth and help rebuild Philippine agriculture.

“I am so frustrated with the corruption in our government especially in the field of agriculture and I hope Rody Duterte will become President of the Philippines because he understands agriculture,” Rocky French, considered as one of the pioneers of modern Tilapia farming in the United States, told me when I visited his modern fish farm in the middle of the Coachella Valley desert yesterday.

French, 57, was born in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat to an American GI who along with the members of his platoon stayed behind in the Philippines after World War II, and married a lass from Capiz.

The older French, who was originally from Kentucky, brought his family to Tacurong and was involved in Oil Palm farming alongside the Garcias and the Montillas.

A graduate of the University of the Philippines in Los Banos, Rocky French later specialized in inland fisheries at the UP Iloilo School of Fisheries and moved to the United States after that.

Working with the Fish and Game department of the United States Government, French realized the demand for more fish in the US and decided to put up a fish farm in an 80-acre property in Coachella Valley.

French used about 1.5 acres of his vast property, mostly desert land, to develop a Tilapia fish farm which starts from spawning to harvesting and marketing.

The farm relies on three deep wells for its water supply which are driven by solar panels which power the whole operation.

The concrete fish tanks are 90 feet in diameter and each could produce 50 tons of large Tilapias weighing over 2 pounds which are harvested every six months.

Using two species of Tilapia, one of which is Red Tilapia, French has pioneered a technology where the water that he uses is recycled. (He has also developed a Tilapia specie for seawater.)

The Tilapias in the fish tanks are trained to bump their snouts at a plastic rod which causes the feeds kept in a plastic barrel to drop automatically. There is manual feeding in his farm.

From the deep wells, water is pumped into the fish tanks which are cleaned of silts from unconsumed feeds everyday. The water then goes to a cleaning area from where it is pumped back into the ponds.

The silts are gathered and used as fertilizer for the plants that he has in his farm, including a nursery where he grows seedlings of Malunggay, Kakawate, Kadyos and even Alogbate.

Last year, his 1.5-acre fish farm produced 350 tons of live Tilapia which are brought to as far as San Francisco up North.

At an average of $3.50 per pound for a production cost of about 60 cents, he grossed $1.225-M last year, roughly P55-M.

His investments for the infrastructure reached $1.5-M and another $1.2-M for the solar panels which now supplies his power.

“This is a technology which we could introduce in the Philippines but what we need is a President who understands a little of agriculture and appreciates the potential of the country for food production,” French said.

“Look, China comes to as far as Coachella Valley to buy their food supplies. The Philippines is a lot nearer to the hungry markets of China, Hongkong, Singapore and even Japan,” he said.

“Our problem is our agriculture technology is so outdated that we could not produce more from the available water and land resources that we have,” he emphasized.

“If we who are in the middle of the desert could produce Tilapia by the thousands of tons and make money, how much more for the Filipinos who are living beside great bodies of water, overflowing rivers and who have six months of rains every year,” Rocky French said.

“Here in the desert, if we do not water our plants in three days, they will die,” he added.

“Imagine a Philippines where fish farming is no longer done in the lakes (like Laguna de Bay) where we poison the lake and destroy its eco-system but alongside the rivers and even in the backyards of the homes of our people and the water which is returned to the rivers is already cleaned and free of ammonia. This could be done,” he said.

“We could make our country the biggest supplier of inland fish in the whole of Asia. What we just need are leaders who understand agriculture and fisheries,” French said.

“I see hope in a Duterte Presidency. I know the guy is not corrupt and he understands agriculture. He is our best hope,” French added.