What do I need to establish a commercial fish farming business?

There are different things a person thinking of staring commercial fish farming business should know. They include determination, capital, pounds among others.

Be determined
When you intend to set up a fish farming business; be determined and certain that it is the type of business you want to invest into.
Business and entrepreneurship is not easy. You are in for a lot of rough rides and outright failure. But persistence, hard work and love for what you are doing will pay as you continue to learn.

Business plan
A business plan is your first major action. This should contain the capital you intend to use, the cost of feeds, cost of young fish seed, and administration costs like labour, utilities.

Even if the land on which you are doing this enterprise is yours, you should cost it for completeness of the plan. Cost of constructing ponds and accessories needed.

Such a business plan will work as the roadmap so that you can move systematically as your business develops. If you follow it, you will be able to track problems before they become major issues.

Set up farm and ponds
We are assuming that you had somebody knowledgeable to construct your earthen fish pond.

This is very important because a poorly constructed fish pond is difficult, expensive or impossible to manage. This is where fish in tanks scores best. You can also use artificial concrete or plastic artificial ponds.

Location
Look for a land that is closer to your targeted market for easy transportation of your product after harvesting and also the location of the land should be accessible for easy movement of feeds or equipment and for you to monitor regularly.

The topography of the proposed site should be generally flat with gentle sloping, which is quite suitable for establishing a commercial fish farm with low financial outlay.
Soil quality, this should be clay, loam with very low pH in order to retain water.

Hydrology of the land; a constant, all year round, water supply is a must for your fish. If necessary a borehole should provide backup water especially in the dry season to enable your fish farm to operate all year round.

Vegetation cover or shade; you may consider planting some tree to serve as shade for your fish, this will help reduce temperature and dust, it will also provide a near natural set up.

Types of fish
Uganda has an impressive array of fish species over 90 from the wild like rivers, lakes and different water bodies. Uganda’s aquaculture industry is also growing mainly because of huge demand of fish and wild capture fish being depleted. This count does not include the Haplochromis complex, which itself is made up of more than 200 species.

With the government’s strategic intervention and support from development partners such as the FAO and Usaid, fish farming is picking up fast. More than 100,000 tonnes of fish are produced from over 50 000 ponds of an average size of 500 m². This is still very low compared to the ware resources available in the country.

Challenges
There are a few challenges, availability of quality fish seed, quality low priced fish feeds, and proper aquaculture extension staff. Catfish and Nile tilapia are the lead farmed fish.

Aquaculture in Uganda has so far been mostly pond- and subsistence-based, there is growing interest of commercial cage fish farming.
And now we have tank based fish farming which still has to take its root and place. This technology has very many advantages over the rest of the systems and is likely to surpass then in adoption because of the ease of operation, close monitoring high stocking densities and safety. Answered by Charles Mulamata, Chairman Africa Aquaponics Association Rubaga

Is Lantana camara harmful or useful to animal husbandry?
Lantana camara is poisonous to livestock. It is an invasive weed that will take over your pasture land and kill your pastures.

Why is our Tilapia is not growing well in the pond?

Poor growth and stunting of Nile tilapia is common. To avoid this, fingerlings at no more than two per square metre with enough feed. Research by Kajjansi Aquaculture Research and Development Centre shows regular use of sunflower oil cake results in excellent growth. It is the residue after pressing of sunflower seeds to extract oil; 1kg of sunflower seeds produces 250g of oil and 750g of cake. This cake can be found in many areas that grow and extract sunflower oil.

How can I store sorghum using organic methods?

The grain (threshed or un threshed) should be stored in a clean cool day facility free of rodents and storage pests.
Occasionally it should be sun-dried in order to reduce the incidence of storage pests during storage.

Storing the grain at higher moisture levels will lead to grain molding and increased incidence of storage pests and diseases.
Traditional method used by farmers of preserving seed for planting with smoke is encouraged by hanging sorghum seeds above the cooking place.

Source: Agricultural Research Extension Network (ARENET)

What causes infertility in cattle?

Poor management and feeding or nutrition of heifers may decrease their growth rate and delay their sexual maturity.
Fertility problems may be complicated by poor detection of the short heat period which may occur at night. There could be cases of sterile heifers due to reproductive defects or dysfunction.
Control: Observe your herd for sterility and cull off those that are not productive to improve the fertility of your stock.

Note this
The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries has identified 31 districts as suitable for fisheries and aquaculture development based on both natural and socio-economic factors.
These districts are: Mayuge, Jinja, Bugiri, Busia, Mukono, Mpigi, Wakiso, Masaka, Rakai, Mbarara, Bushenyi, Ntungamo, Kasese, Hoima, Masindi, Nebbi, Gulu, Adjumani, Arua, Kamuli, Soroti, Lira, Iganga, Tororo, Pallisa, Mbale, Apac, Kabiramaido, Kabarole, Kamwenge and Kyenjojo.

They are located around the country’s major water systems including Lake Victoria Crescent, Lake Kyoga basin, River Nile catchment, Edward-George complex and the Koki lakes.
The most common production systems at all these locations are extensive and semi-intensive pond based aquaculture systems.. Source: FAO

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Interview by Christine Katende