pendua-lombokutara.desa.id - Sentul Asli Hamlet nowadays is developing duckweed as alternative feed and even the primary source of feed in freshwater aquaculture. The success of the Energy Independent Hamlet has attracted numerous visitors, both domestic visitors as well international visitors.

One of the visitors to the hamlet is Rissahoan from Jakarta who is part of the Millenium Challenge Account Indonesia (MCAI). The visit of Rissahoan is in conjunction with monitoring freshwater aquaculture which is currently being developed by local residents. While visiting one of the residents, Rissahoan was accompanied by Ihsan as the Field Extension Agent of Yayasan Rumah Energi Mataram together with Alwan Wijaya Kusuma as the Head of the Hamlet. Alwan has been actively mentoring and empowering the local residents.

As we all know, freshwater aquaculture is not as simple as we have imagined. In addition to requiring significant amount of water, there are also other factors which affect the sucess of the aquaculture. As what Rissahoan said during his visit, he said that the biggest challenge encountered by local residents in aquaculture is the fish feed. It requires significant amount of capital which makes the residents hesitant to embark in aquaculture business.

He also recommends the local residents to stay faithful with the aquaculture and keep it sustainable. “The use of duckweed as the fish feed by local residents is the right innovation in reducing the costs,” he said during the visit to one of the residents, Thursday (18/05).

Meanwhile, Alwan said that in addition to using the duckweed as the fish feed, he envisions that duckweed will be used as a snack ingredient which may benefit and drive the local economy.

He also hopes that YRE will provide guidance and mentorship to the local residents many years to come.

(Source: http://pendua-lombokutara.desa.id/index.php/first/artikel/237)