Institute Assures On Fingerlings Production

The National Institute for Freshwater Fisheries Research (NIFFR),  says it is doing everything possible to sustain fingerlings production in the country.

The Executive Director of the institute, Dr Augustine Okaeme, said this in Abuja at the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP) workshop for provosts and coordinators of adopted villages of the National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs).

Okaeme said that the focus of fingerlings was part of the institute’s contribution to the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA).

According to him, the institute focusing on the processing and value addition of hybrid fingerlings.

“Before the ATA, we produce 1kg fish in eight months but with improved fingerlings production, we produce 1kg in less than four months.

He urged the Federal Government to intervene on behalf of fish entrepreneurs to enable them to access credit from banks to go into massive fish production.

Okaeme also called on the government to help address the issue of infrastructure and some other challenges facing the fish industry.

According to him, fish farmers in the rural areas encounter difficulties in transporting their products to cities, leading to fish shortage in some part of the country and glut other parts.

“Even though the Federal Government has provided the research institute with some funds to work under the ATA, the dearth of infrastructure still needs to be addressed.’’

Okaeme called for more training for researchers in the country to enable them to garner more experience.