Two aquaculture experts on Tuesday recommended that local fish farmers adopt maggot meal and other ingredients as fish feed alternatives.
The experts who spoke in Lagos said that it had become necessary to consider feed alternatives to reduce the cost of producing fish.
A regular fish feed meal comprises of Maize, Groundnut Cake (GNC) fish meal, Soya and other dietary fibres.
The major component of fish feed is the grain used for its composition i.e. Maize, and a ton of maize currently sells above N600,000 as against its former price of N200,000.
An Aquaculture Consultant, Mr Okon Amah, said that maggots are being used as substitutes for feeds for the fish and could now be made use of as fish meal.
Amah said that maggots could be cultured from houseflies, adding that maggots contained all the classes of food that fishes needed to thrive.
He said that adoption of this alternative would help cut the cost of production for the farmers.
“Many farmers are complaining about the high cost of feed, and this is prompted by the increase in the price of raw materials for the feed formulation.
“These raw materials are very essential in fish farming and their quality determine the success of the produce.
“We advise farmers that cannot afford regular grain feeds to look into alternatives. The fish can be fed on some snacks that can constitute part of their diets.
“Fish farmers can adequately feed the fish on maggots because of its high protein content. It can be served in-between meals and thus reduce cost of production,” Amah said.
Additionally, he said that farmers could also feed their fishes with earthworms, termites, bread and noodles waste as substitute fish feed, thus cutting costs.
The consultant said that, however, these alternatives should not be used alone, adding that appropriate feed had all the classes of food needed for the growth of the fish.
“With these alternatives, it can make fish farming sustainable and reduce the number of farmers leaving the trade, hence the need for alternative feeds,” he said.
On his part, a farmer and fish feed producer, Mr Abdulrazak Owolabi said farmers should not rely on grains alone for feed meals.
“We have some good alternatives that fish farmers can use as substitutes to feed that can help cut down costs.
“The farmers can adopt the black butterfly meal as substitute for fish feed.
“The black butterfly meal is gotten from maggots. There is a way you culture maggots with waste food and compost. Maggots are rich in protein and can be used in replacement of fish meal,” Owolabi said.
The farmer stressed that farmers could also cut down on cost of production by sourcing their feed materials locally.
He said that there were so many materials for feed formulation available all over the country, adding that farmers should wean themselves off dependence on imported feed materials.
“Making use of feed alternatives and local processing can help the average fish farmer cut down their cost of production,” Owolabi said.
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