Through the Department of Agriculture-National Fisheries Research and Development Institute’s (DANFRDI) technology demonstration on tilapia culture that highlights the use of quality strains and extruded floating feeds (EEF), tilapia can be harvested within 3 months after reaching its marketable size.
On 6-September-2022, a total of 189.5 kilograms of the Nile and Red tilapia were harvested from the Villar SIPAG Farm School in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan. NFRDI researchers taught the farm school staff the best practices for culture tilapia based on scientific studies. “Ang mga pinalaking tilapia dito sa Villar SIPAG Farm School ay strain ng Nile at Red Tilapia galing sa BFAR National Freshwater Fisheries Technology Center (BFAR-NFFTC).
“Pinili namin na male tilapia fingerlings ang ihulog sa pond para mas mabilis ang kanilang paglaki. Extruded floating feeds ang pinakain namin dito para mas cost efficient. Bahagi ng technology demo natin ay ang pagtuturo ng tamang kaalaman kung paano alagaan, pakainin, at palakihin ang mga tilapia,” said Frederick Muyot, senior science research specialist, Freshwater Fisheries Research and Development Center of NFRDI.
(The tilapia chosen for the Villar SIPAG Farm School is a strain of the Nile and Red Tilapia from BFAR-National Freshwater Fisheries Technology Center (BFAR NFFTC). They chose the male fingerlings for a higher certainty of fast growth. The fingerlings were fed with extruded floating feeds for cost efficiency. Part of the technology demo is teaching the right knowledge about how to care, feed, and grow tilapia fingerlings, said Frederick Muyot.) He added that aside from being more nutritious, goodtasting, and highly digestible, the EEF is efficient and environment-friendly compared to sinking feeds. “This type of feed is proven to be more effective in increasing growth performance compared to other feed types resulting in more harvest by 19% – 35%, and promotes higher weight gain and uniform sizes of fish at harvest,” he added.
The technology demonstration on tilapia culture is a collaborative effort of NFRDI, BFAR-NFFTC, and Villar SIPAG Farm School to showcase fishery technologies for increased income of fish farmers and contribute to the overall fish production of the country.