The Anambra State Ministry of Agriculture, says it has
trained fish farmers in the state on how to produce fish feeds locally, to
reduce the cost of importing feeds.

Mr Leo Amoka, the Programme Manager, Anambra Agricultural
Development Programme (ADP), disclosed this in an  interview with newsmen in Onitsha, Anambra,
on Tuesday.

Reports  say that with
the steady increase in the number of fish farmers in the last 10 years, the
country has had to import fish feeds, thereby losing millions of dollars each
year.

Amoka said experts from donor agencies had delivered
lectures and demonstrated how to prepare the fish feeds using locally sourced
materials.

“Actually, we brought farmers together to learn how to
absorb new technology and manufacture feeds by themselves instead of buying it
in the market, which is very expensive.

“And in the process, the Federal Government would now allow
importers to import and now deplete our foreign exchange. So, we now want to
use our locally sourced materials to do it.

“Soya beans, groundnuts, we have all the things here. So we
taught them how to do it over the last weekend.

“It is courtesy of the Peter Obi-led administration, who
paid the counterpart fund that we used in doing this.’’

The programme manager said the ministry also provided
farmers in the state with genetically modified exotic fruit seeds, which could
grow and adapt to the soil and climate of the state.

“We procured some exotic seeds. So these exotic seeds are
the type of seeds that are planted in the north; because of this insecurity
situation, our people don’t normally go to the north again to buy this
cucumber, you know, water melon.

“So we procure some seeds that can grow here, and we have
tried it in the farm and it worked.

“It had been distributed to our farmers to plant around
here. These exotic seeds like cucumbers, water melon, onions, cabbage. In fact,
if you come to my compound, I have a lot of them.’’

Amoka also disclosed that the ministry had leased out the
five tractors the state government procured early in the year to some
commercial farmers and co-operative societies in the state.