The Department of Agriculture (DA) has developed a cheaper aquaculture feed product, which uses locally produced raw materials, that could bring down the production costs of tilapia and milkfish by as much as P10 per kilogram amid soaring prices of imported feed products.
In a news statement, the DA said a joint project by the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center-Aquaculture Division (SEAFDEC-AQD) and the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (NFRDI) has formulated a locally-sourced “efficient, sustainable and low-cost” aquaculture feeds.
The formulated feed, which was developed by Dr. Roger Edward Mamauag of SEAFDEC-AQD, uses by-products from corn and poultry abattoirs as well as coconut-fermented copra meal, replacing imported fishmeal as a protein source.
The feeds will be field tested for milkfish and tilapia, which are the top aquaculture commodities in the country. The field tests were conducted by SEAFDEC-AQD and NFRDI in partnership with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
“The ongoing crises, Covid-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine conflict, have a ripple effect in the whole seafood value chain. So it’s not just food and fuel, it also affects feed both for livestock and aquaculture since the majority of our feedstuff is being sourced outside the country,” Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said.
“What we need are sustainable technologies and interventions that can provide our fishing communities locally-available ingredients providing added benefits of cost savings and reduced imports, at the same time,” Dar added.
The DA said initial trial results showed that the SEAFDEC-AQD formulated aquaculture feed can “compete with the commercially-fed in terms of growth performance and other biological parameters.”
“One of the major problems that we wanted to address through this project is to lower the cost of feeds, which comprises 50 percent to 70 percent of the production cost. By making the feed cost-effective and sustainable it will increase profits and encourage more fish farmers to venture in aquaculture,” said NFRDI Director Lilian Garcia.
The DA said the use of locally-available raw materials made the SEAFDEC-AQD formulated feeds cheaper compared to commercially produced ones, especially since protein sources abroad have become more expensive due to ongoing Ukraine-Russia war.
“Commercial fish feeds usually consist of fish meal, which is both expensive and resource-intensive since it requires harvesting fish from the oceans for feed production,” it said. “While plant-based protein sources like soybean meal and wheat gluten can provide lower-cost alternatives, the ongoing Ukraine crisis has made prices of imported feedstuff volatile and therefore unsustainable,” it added.
Mamauag said the SEAFDEC-AQD feeds cost about P27 per kilogram for milkfish and P24 per kilogram for tilapia. “Commercial feeds cost P33 to P35 per kilogram for milkfish and P32 to P34 per kilogram for tilapia. From this price, a reduction of P6 to P8 per kilogram or 18 to 23 percent for milkfish and P8 to 10 per kilogram or 25 to 32 percent for tilapia in feed cost were obtained,” he added.
In a related development, local aquafeed manufacturers reiterated their call to the DA to lift the import ban on porcine processed animal protein (PAP) from Italy to avert further increase in the prices of domestic aquafeed products. (Related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2022/04/25/da-pressed-to-lift-ban-on-processed-animal-protein-from-italy/)
“PAP is a vital ingredient in aquafeed, serving the bulk of its protein requirement. Tilapia, bangus, shrimps, they require a high protein diet compared to hogs and poultry, which only require low protein in their feeds,” Chris Co, Vice President for Marketing of Oversea Feeds, said in a recent news statement.
“One good source of protein, aside from fishmeal, is PAP. Fishmeal price is increasing and there is not enough of it to go around,” Co added.
Advocacy group Tugon Kabuhayan said the closure of Italy, which accounts for 70 percent of the country’s annual 150,00-metric ton imported PAP, might derail the growth of the aquaculture industry and result in job losses.
“The aquaculture industry has paved the way for roads and livelihood even to the remotest area one could imagine. If production is derailed, this can be detrimental to the source of income of people working in the aquaculture sector,” it said.
“We hope that the government will immediately act on this problem and base their decision on science,” it added.
Image credits: Mau Victa