‘Cold Water Hybrid’ Tilapia Hybrid For Cordillera, High Elevation Fish Farms

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources of the Department of Agriculture has developed a new Tilapia Hybrid which thrives well in cold water fishponds, especially those in high elevation areas like the Cordillera.
Dr. Jude Danting, head of the National Freshwater Technology Center (NFTC) based in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija said that the “Coid Water” Tilapia Hybrid is a cross of Uganda Nilotica from Lake Victoria and the BFAR EXCEL developed in the country.
Already, the Cold Water Tilapia Hybrid is now being raised by fishpond farmers in the highlands of the Cordillera where water temperature could be as low as 10C degrees.
What makes this development meaningful for me is the fact that it was during my time as Secretary of Agriculture when the Uganda Nilotica strain was brought into the country.
Rocky French, the Filipino-American aquaculturist who helped me improve the Tilapia Hatcheries of BFAR and trained key personnel in his farm in California, brought in the Uganda Nilotica as part of our genetic improvement program.
Deposited in the BFAR NFTC for breeding and development, Dr. Danting said the Uganda Nilotica was bred with the EXCEL strain developed locally.
The result was a new strain which could withstand and achieve commercially viable growth in areas where the water is cold.
When I and Rocky visited the BFAR NFTC yesterday, Dr. Danting and Dr. Michelle Patoc who is in charge of the quarantine facility showed us the remaining 28 Uganda Nilotica which were brought in May 2017.
The 7-year-old breeders are kept in controlled conditions in the NFTC and have already produced tens of thousands of fingerlings which had been crossed with several strains.
The most successful of this genetic experiments was the cross-breeding of Uganda Nilotica with BFAR EXCEL Tilapia.
I have asked BFAR Director Demosthenes Escoto for breeding materials of the “Cold Water” Tilapia strain.
This strain would be ideal in the highlands of Kidapawan and North Cotabato, Bukidnon and Lanao del Sur, especially in Lake Lanao where the water is cold.
This is the result of a simple effort to bring in outstanding breeding materials of Tilapia which now has provided hope for fish farmers in the high elevation areas of the country.

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#farmingisendlesslearning!
(Video by Kas Sy Saltiban)