pengetahuanhijau.com - That afternoon on Wednesday, October 4, 2017, around 11:00 a.m. local time, BaKTI Field Officer visited Lima Sejahtera farmers’ group led by Bapak Jhon Lukas Ludji at Mauhau Village, East Sumba. Around 40 participants appeared to get ready to participate in an activity entitled “Aquaculture and Duckweed Bioslurry Training” delivered by Yayasan Rumah Energi (YRE) and supported by Millenium Challenge Account (MCA) Indonesia.

“This activity is part of GADING programme that we are implementing. Previously we have trained the participants on the processing of biogas sludge in the forms of solid and liquid bioslurry as fertilisers, about bioslurry-based duckweed cultivation for fodder including fish feed, now we teach them again about aquaculture, especially bioslurry-based Nile Tilapia aquaculture,” explained Bapak Kornelis K Lidjang representing Yayasan Rumah Energi (YRE).
As for the training participants, in addition to members of Lima Sejahtera farmers’ group, there are also members of Harapan Baru women farmers’ group, and members of Indonesian Women Coalition (KPI) from Balai Perempuan (BP) Matawai charter, where most of them are biogas users. Their biogas reactors were built through TERANG programme which was supported by MCA Indonesia.

According to Pak Y.M. Hudioro from the Office of Fisheries East Sumba, as a resource person in this training activity, currently the price of freshwater fish is high, however, the farmers have not considered freshwater aquaculture activities as a new business opportunity but simply consider the activity as a mere hobby or fun activities. Meanwhile, on the other hand, the price of fish feed (pellet) is equally high. This is the condition which should actually be watched closely by farmers as business opportunitiy.

In Bapak Jhon Ludji’s front yard, there is a fish pond size measuring 20 x 6.5m containing 4,000 super nile GIFT fingerlings reared since August 2017. It is estimated that they will be ready for harvest on December 2017 and his previous Nile Tilapia aquaculture told him that the price will be as high as Rp 50,000/kilogram. He bought the fingerlings himself in Yogya.
Nile GIFT (Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia) was a cross-breeding and selection from various Nile Tilapia originating from Taiwan, Egypt, Thailand, Ghana, Singapore, Israel, Senegal, and Kenya. In comparison to the local Nile Tilapia, Nile GIFT length is shorter with the size of the head relatively smaller than local Nile Tilapia. The advantages of Nile GIFT in comparison to local Nile Tilapia is that the number of eggs is 20-30% higher, the weight of the fingerling is 17.5 grams and the growth rate is faster so is the growth rate during the fish rearing phase, low feed conversion, resistance toward less favourable environment and high tolerance when raised in a water with 0-15% salinity thus farming the fish in the brackishwater is possible.

Nile Tilapia is one of many freshwater fish raised for consumption purposes. The fish was introduced in Africa, precisely in East Africa in 1969 and now becomes popular fish farmed on freshwater ponds in Indonesia and at the same time become invasive species in every Indonesian river and lake. The scientific name is Oreochromis Niloticus and the common name is Nile Tilapia.

For Nile Tilapia farming purposes, in addition to pond preparation, the selection of fingerling is a key factor which determines the success rate of the fish aquaculture. For a maximum result, it is recommended to select predominantly male fingerlings as the growth rate of male fingerlings are 40 percent faster in comparison to their female counterpart. Meanwhile the requirements for selecting good fingerlings are as follow: same size, vibrant colours, agile swimmers, good physical appearance, complete fins and scales, no white spot, no wounds, and so forth.

Feed management is very important in Nile Tilapia farming. The costs of the feed is the largest component in Nile Tilapia farming as they have to be fed with pellets containing 20-30 percent protein content. Nile Tilapia requires dry pellets as much as 3 percent of its body weight on daily basis. Feed may be given in the morning and late afternoon. For this condition, duckweed becomes the right solution with respect to availability of fish feed with high protein content provided that the duckweed is fertilised with liquid bioslurry.

During the training session, in addition to the techniques of Nile Tilapia farming, they are also provided with the knowledge on the business risk illustration/analysis of Nile Tilapia farming business for 1 year in a 50 m2 land with a total population of 1,500 fingerlings, starting from the calculation of investment costs, operational costs including methods of calculating feed costs up to the potential profit earned.

(Source: http://www.pengetahuanhijau.com/berita/melirik-peluang-usaha-perikanan-air-tawar-berbasis-lemna)