Africa-Press – Angola. The feed shortage in Lunda-Sul province is creating enormous difficulties for fish farmers, causing a significant reduction in the supply of tilapia in local markets.
Despite this very challenging scenario, in the more than 470 tanks, which function as a bank for the production of gem plasmas and a “house” for fattening, the presence of cacussos and catfish is visible in quantity.
The infrastructures are managed by individual farmers/ associates, in all the municipalities of the province of Lunda-Sul.
According to the provincial director of Agriculture, Nelson Senguetali, the investments mark the re-launch of aquaculture that began in 2012, in the commune of Mona Quimbundo, with the launch of the first fingerlings to the fish ponds, and multiplication of cassava cuttings with a short vegetative cycle (six to eight months), within the framework of two projects financed by the PADES Economic and Social Development Support Program.
It is from the Mona Quimbundo bank that the fingerlings left to “populate” 12 tanks assigned to an association of former combatants in the village of Cangombe, on the outskirts of the municipal seat of Muconda. The advances also reflected in the installation of four tanks in Dala, and 20 units of family exploration and 12 others, of commercial exploration, in several localities.
Nelson Senguetali affirmed that the partnership between the Government and the Sociedade Mineira de Catoca, aims to take advantage of the agricultural potential of the region to guarantee self-sufficiency in fish and mitigating dependence on the coast The difficulty in accessing feed to feed the fish, especially in the fattening phase, is the “weak point” of the breeders.
Search and initiatives
Poor feeding delays reaching weight from 300 to 500 grams per fish. It puts stress on the fish, and results in “shy catches,” resented by the high demand for the product in the market. In order to have access to “fresh fish” customers request breeders in advance. The satisfaction of customer orders at the exploration centers is punctual.
The director also highlights the efforts of a West African citizen residing in Saurimo, whose exhibition of fish of enviable size, at agricultural fairs, proved to be an agent with a talent to win.
“Despising small portions of feed insistently thrown into aquariums, the giant catfish, with an estimated weight of 40 kilograms, “stayed” in the dark corner, defeating the expectations of the team of reporters prepared for the desired photograph. The “predator”, respected among the tenants of the large heart-shaped tank, occupies one of the “rooms” isolated, to save the lives of the “neighbors,” in the mini condominium, “he explained. Surviving as much as the manager of the Mazuela e Filhos tourist center can manage, about a kilometer from the city of Saurimo.
They know by heart the “usual song of lamentation that comes from the silted up Muangueji River”. The area of more than 30 hectares is shared by horses, donkeys, pigeons, dozens of fruit trees and ornamental plants.
The administrator of the tourist complex, Arris Feka Nunes , recognizes that the “difficulty of the feed limits production, but we sell fish by order, charging 3,500 kwanzas for each kilogram of cacusso and 4,000 kwanzas for the catfish”.
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