Gov't agricultural productivity programs enable fish farmers to earn more income
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya (26 October) -- Fish farmers in Cagayan province's coastal towns continue to reap the fruits of trainings and programs by the government to enhance their livelihood productivity.
"We are very thankful that our eyes are opened to the realities that we can become better fish farmers," said Rogelio Agraan, a local fish farmer in Sta. Teresita town in Cagayan province.
Agraan added that the recent introduction of fish farming technology would also enable the farmers to expand their fish farms and encourage other non-recipients of training to try their trade.
This developed as several technological interventions have been conducted by the Department of Science and Technology(DOST) among local fish farmers in town through the Consultancy for Agricultural Productivity Enhancement (CAPE) project for prawn, mudcrab and other aquaculture livelihood projects.
"The fish farmer-beneficiaries are now enjoying an average of 91 percent Return of Investment(ROI) compared to their past rating of 66.6 percent," noted DOST acting regional director Urdujah Tejada.
Tejada said the proper application of the technologies on pond preparation, operation and management earlier introduced to the fish farmers are the major factors on he improvement of their productivity.
The technologies were also backed up by the networking assistance of the DOST where prospective buyer-beneficiaries and the accredited sources of prawn fry from other parts of the country have been established for Cagayan's fish farmers.
The "Dig now pay later" project of the provincial government of Cagayan also helped new fish farmers who were hard up in shouldering the needed expenses on pond preparation. The project which was launched two years ago has benefited more than 100 fish farmers in various coastal town's that continue to mushroom in the province, local officials also said. (PIA-NVizcaya) [top]
