Hello, i will be talking about FISH farming just like we are already into catfish farming,tilapia fish,carps, and other fishes such as ornamental fishes plays important role in contributing to national economy of our so many countries of the world.Egypt is the highest producer of tilapia in africa,followed by Ghana and Nigeria has no place in Tilapia prodcution despite having huge freshwater resources than all the other two country mentioned above.Also Nigeria produce the highest tonnage of catfish in Africa today but we are yet to really tap into the gold mine of fishery resources.This is as result of lack of proper knowlegde about the practice,unscrupulus behaviour of scammers or fraudulent individual who parade themselves as expert,trying to cut corners,high cost of feeding catfish and lack of standard feed for tilapia,marketing problems as a result of strong cartel of market women that tends to make all the profit at the expense of the farmer ,also improper branding and lack of value addition to the fish are part of problems face by intending fish farmers. I intends to shed more light on these and so many others and hope that other member of the forum will help to contributes their experience and together we shall be able to add value to our farming operation and make more profit .
thanks
Adedeji Abdfattah Abiodun

To smoke a fis follow a simple process which begins with selection of averagely size fish between 300-450grams for easy smoking and drying.After selection of the fish, you will need to stun the fish with salt and other sauce(pepper,ginger/suya sauce or any other considered appropriate)you put all the fish in a plastic bowl and add the salt mixture on the fish and you quickly cover the bowl for about 5minutes .The fish is expected stunned or dead and you can start the other process such as degutting ie removal of the intestinal content and making sure that the intestine is removed,liver,bile duct,stomach and also fat layer are also removed.The fish are thoroughly washed and then sauced again(this is optional).At these point,the oven is prepared,the trays are cleaned and lubricated and then the fish are folded into shape firmly without any hook, they are placed on the tray and properly arranged. They are then put inside oven and depending on the type of smoking kiln that you are using(gas,chacoal or wooden type)set the fire on and can close the kiln.It is important to make sure that the fish are properly monitored,turned and trays are exchanged between the upper and lower chamber,Also you can add ginger shaft to the fire source to give it a special aroma,also collect the fat and put in a bowl place it inside the oven,it will fry and the fish oil can be collected for further use. After the fish have become properly smoked and dried NOT BURNT(You can now removed them from the smoking kiln and begin to pack into transparent nylon with a label inserted like a bread label in your name and then prepare to market the fish.Also determin the cost of production of the smoked fish,add your profit margin (i recommends 20%) then set out to office,market place,banks,hotel,school and other relevant places to sell your fish.All the best.

Nigeria's Agric sector to get 15 billion Naira boost

The Nigerian government is making plans to recapitalise the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) with 15 billion Naira (about 96 million dollars) to make the bank stronger and more efficient.
Dr Mohammed Santuraki, the Managing Director of the BOA, explained that the 15 billion Naira would shore up the bank's current capital, which was 30 billion Naira, to 45 billion Naira.
“This is in line with the agricultural transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan's led administration,'' Dr. Santuraki told reporters on Wednesday in Sokoto shortly after he paid a courtesy visit to the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar.

‘Provide more food'Santuraki said that the bank had in the last 10 years distributed 43 billion Naira as loan facilities to farmers across the nation. SOURCE:NAN


“These loan facilities were provided to both dry and wet season farmers in the agriculture value chain to finance a myriad of farming activities…These included NGOs and other stakeholders in the nation's agriculture sector which is being revived by President Jonathan," he said.

The BOA boss said that the bank intended to advance 20 billion Naira loan to Nigerian farmers in 2013 in line with President Jonathan's resolve to provide more food on the tables of Nigerians.

“The micro farmers will each get a minimum of 250,000 naira; medium scale farmers, five million Naira each; while each of the large scale farmers will get above 5 million Naira," he said.

Santuraki decried the current state of Nigeria as a net importer of food, especially rice and wheat.

Integrity farm wrote this in responds to Ganıyu of Latia farms on the above subject on catfishfarmers forum(yahoo/roup) ıs absolutely rıght about the hıgh costs of ımported floatıng feeds and the blame rests squarely wıth the Federal Govt who controls all the multıple agencıes at the port. As major ımporters and marketers of Zeıgler fısh feed from USA, we at Integrıty are lamentıng under the burden of contınuous dwındlıng margıns on ımported feed. We are also fısh farmers ourselves and we can say that over a long term we have the potentıal to make more returns from fısh farmıng than from feed ımportatıon especıally ıf you consıder the levels of ınvestments ınto both ventures.

Consıder the hard facts:

1. You want to ınvest ın a standard warehouse

2. Hıgh and fluctuatıng lead tımes between orderıng and receıvıng of sometımes up to 3 months. Note that lead tıme does not end untıl you receıve feed ınto your warehouse and sometımes you can suffer an unexpected delays at the Lagos port.

3. Duty, VAT, NAFDAC, and other offıcıal payments at the port sometımes can account for about 30% of landıng cost

4. Other payments, ınsurance, clearıng agent fee, fınance charges can account for another 15%

5. Hıgh freıght (foreıgh and local) charges

6. You have to deal wıth dıshonest staff ıncludıng store keepers and sales staff

7. You have to deal wıth dıshonest customers who wıll want to delay payments or outrıghtly defraud you ıf you sell on credıt

If we sıncerely want to raıse cheaper fısh wıth cheaper qualıty feed, we have to appeal to the govt to come to our aıd. Remember that thıs does not only have to do wıth ımported fınıshed fısh feed. Even wıth the local feed you stıll need some ımported ıngredıents lıke fısh meal.
For your benefit

Making money in catfish farming are dependent on doing the right thing at the right time,not trying to cut corners .Many Fish farmers losses results from bad management practices on the part of the owner of business and stealing,pilfering and other bad behaviours on the part of the farm manager and workers. Like every other business, vigilance and adherence to basic fish requirement and business ethics are key to successful enterprise . Also the idea of make money quick does NOT belong here,infact it a scam and many people had falling victim to this fraudulent claims.Moreover greed is the major attraction for most lossers . I must mention too that there genuine reason for losses such as disease outbreak and some other factors such as water quality,wrong management practices and so on can lead to losses..

Fellow farmers,let us take this business more serious and all of us together contributes to feeding the increasing population of Nigeria with fish and farm products, Finally all the above applies to other agric ventures and we must consult with experienced and honest people and we must follow good advice to make a profitable farming business,raining season is gradually coming farmers should start preparation for the planting season..

Thanks a lot for being part of these forum

Adedeji Abdfattah

08033135761

Intensive tank culture systems is a system of breeding fish in captivity, it entails total provision of feed, water, and all necessary requirement for optimum growth. Intensive culture can be based on flow through system and recirculating system conditions.

In a flow through systems water are made to pass through a channel or pumping facilities that is an inlets into the production tank and used water are drained or removed through a system of underground pvc pipes that already opens into each fish tanks. However recirculating conditions entails complete or partial water reuse system which means that waste water are return through system of pipes through sedimentation tanks and then are pumped back into biological filtration medial and then by gravity the reused water returns into the respective production tanks.

Recirculating and Flow through system can only operate successfully if high standards of water quality are maintained. This is especially important with respect to oxygen and ammonia levels. The degree to which water can be re-used or flushed out in a high stocking density culture system depends largely on the design of the water purification system,pipe networks and effectiveness of the component parts in a recirculating conditions.

Recirculating system : The object of biological filtration is to remove solids such as uneaten food and faeces and metabolic wastes so that the water can be re-used. The metabolic wastes that have to be removed are ammonia(the most toxic), carbon dioxide, faecal matter and urea. Nitrite and nitrate are two other inorganic forms of nitrogen that must be removed from the culture environment. Nitrite is also toxic from levels as low as 0.19 mg/l for some species. Nitrate accumulation, which is inevitable in most water re-use systems, does not have a direct effect on fish, but accumulation of nitrate results in a reduction of the pH which in turn inhibits nitrification.

The most important processes in water re-use systems are mineralisation, nitrification, dissimilation and denitrification.

Mineralisation is the stage where nitrogenous waste breakdown into more simple compounds such as ammonia (e.g. the deamination of urea to ammonia). It is effected by aerobic heterotrophic bacteria and occurs mostly in the biological filters. There are many different designs for biological filters, e.g. submerged down- or up-draft filters or trickle tower filters. Mineralisation also takes place during the process of sludge activation (if included into the design).Nitrification is the next step in which ammonia is oxidised by aerobic autotrophic bacteria from its gaseous or ionised state to nitrite and then to nitrate. The process of nitrification requires a great deal of oxygen (e.g. approximately 5 molecules of oxygen are needed to oxidise one molecule of ammonia to nitrate).

Biological filters should be aerated vigorously failing which will result in a reduced biological carrying capacity of the system. Ozone can also be used to facilitate the process of nitrification.

Secondary source of ammonia is also removed in the biofilters. Denitrification is when inorganic nitrogen is completely reduced to N2O and N2.

Residual nitrate can be assimilated by algae in a reconditioning reservoir (if it is included into the design).

Recirculation systems for high density culture of fish can have various configurations. The level of complexity and sophistication of water re-use systems are dependent on the availability of capital and availability of equipment.

Suspended solids in the form of uneaten food ,excretal can either be removed by way of a settling tank (from which the accumulated solids have to be flushed out on a regularly as desired).

After having passed through the biofilters the water can then either be filtered further by way of sand pressure filters (which also contain bacteria on the medium and thus also act as biofilters) or can flow into a large reconditioning reservoir, in which algae or aquatic macrophytes can be used to remove nitrates. After having gone through this process the water is ready to be pumped back to the fish tanks. Depending on the operational efficiency of the system the precentage of the total volume which has to be replaced with fresh water on a daily basis ranges between 7 and 20%.

read more @ www,catfishfarmingbusiness.com

Cage aquaculture has grown rapidly during the past decades and is presently undergoing swift changes in response to pressures from globalization and an escalating worldwide global demand for aquatic products.

A report by the Food and Agriculture Organization shows that there has been a move toward clustering exist-ing cages as well as toward the development and use of more intensive cage farming systems.

In particular, the need for suitable sites has resulted in cage aquaculture accessing and expanding into new untapped open-water culture areas such as lakes, reservoirs, rivers and coastal brackish and marine offshore waters.

Lagos State, recognizing the tremendous importance of cage aquaculture today and its key role for the future growth of the aquaculture sector, recently embarked on a project to utilize the earthen ponds in rural communities that have close proximity to lagoons and other water bodies under its pet project called Marine Aqua-culture Development Project, which forms part of the Marine Agriculture Development Pro-gramme of the present government.

Marine agriculture entails the utilization of marine resources for the production of food and other agro-allied products such as the culti-vation of fishes, weeds and other useful aquatic products.

The lagoon and marine environment in Lagos State is endowed with diverse resources which need to be developed for maximum resource utilization, especially in the areas of food production. Certain means of food cul-tivation on land can better be done on water which is less competitive and is more natural to the culture organism.

The competition for land in the state, coupled with the special ecological peculiarities which favours aquatic food production, clearly justifies the need to employ Marine agri-culture as a strategy for feeding the teeming population of the state.

The Marine Agriculture Development Programme is a multi-phased agenda to increase food production in the state. The aquaculture project is the first to be established and it serves as the nucleus around which other com-ponents revolve. This is the cultivation of fish in their natural aquatic environment other than the conventional terrestrial fish farming commonly refered to as ponds. The method of fish farming is called Cage and Pen Culture System.

Cultivation in ponds uses artificially enclosed water bodies on land. Cage and Pen culture is the cultivation of fish species in natural water bodies. This involves the use of porous materials such as nets, basket net irons, among others, to encase small fishes in their natural water habitat and feed them to table size.

Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, Chief Kolapo-moye Ajiboso, explained that the government choose to explore the system as it can sustain the production of fish species other than catfish, especially scaly fish; stimulate economic activities in the fishing communities through the provision of alternative means of income for fishermen in the fishing communities as well as create employment for youths, thereby curbing rural- urban drift.

He disclosed that progress have been made as all par-ticipating communities and some local goverments have shown interest through the construction, mounting as well as installation of the cages in the lagoon.

With the construction of nine cages stocked with Tilapia across six local government, the management of the pilot scheme in the communities is being carried out in collabo-ration with the local fishermen who have shown great interest at replicating the cage fish culture system as it has afforded them the opportunity of diversifying the use of the body water in their localities.

Harvest have been made twice since the stocking of the cages started February this year. The first harvest was carried out at Dale Whedakoh in Badagry Local Government, one of the sites of the pilot scheme on 18th June, 2008, where a total of 1,019kg of fish was harvested.


Another feat of success was recorded last month with the harvest of over one tone of fish at the Oko-Orisan site of the Cage and Pen culture system in Epe.

Chief Kolapomoye Ajiboso, who was full of excitement at the sight of the fish, averaging 2.3 kg each, said that the project is no longer an experimental venture but a sustainable and enduring programme at eradicating poverty, unemployment and improving the nutritional intake of Lagosians.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr. Wale Raji, explained that the second harvest can be described as being "exceptional because the fish are just 4 months in rearing and each one averaged over 2 kilograms" He said that such feat could not have been possible in artificial fish rearing methods, a pointer to the environmental friendly benefit of the method.

Cage aquaculture has grown rapidly during the past decades and is presently undergoing swift changes in response to pressures from globalization and an escalating worldwide global demand for aquatic products.

A report by the Food and Agriculture Organization shows that there has been a move toward clustering exist-ing cages as well as toward the development and use of more intensive cage farming systems.

In particular, the need for suitable sites has resulted in cage aquaculture accessing and expanding into new untapped open-water culture areas such as lakes, reservoirs, rivers and coastal brackish and marine offshore waters.

Lagos State, recognizing the tremendous importance of cage aquaculture today and its key role for the future growth of the aquaculture sector, recently embarked on a project to utilize the earthen ponds in rural communities that have close proximity to lagoons and other water bodies under its pet project called Marine Aqua-culture Development Project, which forms part of the Marine Agriculture Development Pro-gramme of the present government.

Marine agriculture entails the utilization of marine resources for the production of food and other agro-allied products such as the culti-vation of fishes, weeds and other useful aquatic products.

The lagoon and marine environment in Lagos State is endowed with diverse resources which need to be developed for maximum resource utilization, especially in the areas of food production. Certain means of food cul-tivation on land can better be done on water which is less competitive and is more natural to the culture organism.

The competition for land in the state, coupled with the special ecological peculiarities which favours aquatic food production, clearly justifies the need to employ Marine agri-culture as a strategy for feeding the teeming population of the state.

The Marine Agriculture Development Programme is a multi-phased agenda to increase food production in the state. The aquaculture project is the first to be established and it serves as the nucleus around which other com-ponents revolve. This is the cultivation of fish in their natural aquatic environment other than the conventional terrestrial fish farming commonly refered to as ponds. The method of fish farming is called Cage and Pen Culture System.

Cultivation in ponds uses artificially enclosed water bodies on land. Cage and Pen culture is the cultivation of fish species in natural water bodies. This involves the use of porous materials such as nets, basket net irons, among others, to encase small fishes in their natural water habitat and feed them to table size.

Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, Chief Kolapo-moye Ajiboso, explained that the government choose to explore the system as it can sustain the production of fish species other than catfish, especially scaly fish; stimulate economic activities in the fishing communities through the provision of alternative means of income for fishermen in the fishing communities as well as create employment for youths, thereby curbing rural- urban drift.

He disclosed that progress have been made as all par-ticipating communities and some local goverments have shown interest through the construction, mounting as well as installation of the cages in the lagoon.

With the construction of nine cages stocked with Tilapia across six local government, the management of the pilot scheme in the communities is being carried out in collabo-ration with the local fishermen who have shown great interest at replicating the cage fish culture system as it has afforded them the opportunity of diversifying the use of the body water in their localities.

Harvest have been made twice since the stocking of the cages started February this year. The first harvest was carried out at Dale Whedakoh in Badagry Local Government, one of the sites of the pilot scheme on 18th June, 2008, where a total of 1,019kg of fish was harvested.

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Another feat of success was recorded last month with the harvest of over one tone of fish at the Oko-Orisan site of the Cage and Pen culture system in Epe.

Chief Kolapomoye Ajiboso, who was full of excitement at the sight of the fish, averaging 2.3 kg each, said that the project is no longer an experimental venture but a sustainable and enduring programme at eradicating poverty, unemployment and improving the nutritional intake of Lagosians.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr. Wale Raji, explained that the second harvest can be described as being "exceptional because the fish are just 4 months in rearing and each one averaged over 2 kilograms" He said that such feat could not have been possible in artificial fish rearing methods, a pointer to the environmental friendly benefit of the method.

i think there is a need to have agriculture section in naira land and i will like to start one

i was almost late for jumah because of the heavy rain in my area today.Alihamdulilahi

by this post i intends a step by step guides to catfish farming for the benefits of all.

FERTILIZATION IN FINGERLINGS PRODUCTIONS

        The male reproductive organ is then prepared. This is done by mixing of the male milt content with physiological salt solution (saline water). This is done by using scissors to incise the milt sac, squeeze the reproductive content (sperm) into already prepared saline solution, mixed gently and place aside.

The female eggs are obtained by a process called stripping. The eggs are stripped out by gently pressure the lower abdomen into a dry plastic container already prepared for the purpose. The eggs, collected are kept aside and water is not allowed to touch the content under any circumstances. The egg in milt are then  mixed together, this is done by pouring the milt solution into the egg and then gently  mixed together, after which a saline solution is used to rinsed the container containing the milt.

PROPER FERTILIZATION     

        Pure clean water is added to the mixture and then gently stir to make sure all the mixture are thoroughly mixed together.

        These are then spread on a spawning net. They should be evenly spread to avoid overlapping of the egg which can cause clogging and unhatched eggs.

        They are left alone for 24 hours after which the egg would have hatched out and they are seen at the corner and at the bottom of the tank.

        The net is then remove and either placed in another water/tank or they are washed away to avoid pollution.

To me as an individual all hope is not lost on agriculture. Future of the entire world depends on agriculture to avoid malnutrition, diseases as aresoult of inadequate food and other self inflicted disease due to our neglegient of agriculture. As a farmer , i will not run away from agricultural practices and i shall encourages people especially youth to refocus on agriculture for the sake of tommorrow.
thanks
adfab
www.catfishfarmersnigeria..com
www.adfabwebresources.com

ramadhan kareem, brothers and sisters all over the world, i want to use these opportunity to invites all mankind to come and embrace islam as the gate of paradise are open and hell close during this month.

U only need to re-examine urself,just think about death that u are not going to be here on earth for ever,just think that u need to worship ur Lord because He created u For the primary purpose of worshiping all other things are secondary.

Bretheren, let us keep the work up and i pray Allah help us and forgive us of our shortcoming

thanks brothers for the message and clarification on the place of worship ezpecially at a graveyards.When i was younger ,my uncle took us for a maolud nabiyi and on getting to the venue somewhere in Saki, he went into a house which happen to be graveyard of Sheu Isa,the sufi leader of his group, i was very unconfortable by the fact that people start praying near the graveyard as if asking Allah for mercy in the name of their shaykh, i knew without being told ,though this prompted my better search for better understanding of islam, thru MSSN. alihamdulilahi, it is a bad practice which must stop if truely we are muslim and hoping to meet Allah(swt) as muslims
maa salam

i normally use notepad and i find it more easy to use for unlike some of the other what u see is what u get software.
i like them too.

Hello everyone,
i think we should take things easy with one another, the sky is wide enough for all of us to fly without hurting ourselves.
Do have a good day