Management and value chain of nile tilapia cultured in ponds of Small-scale farmers in Morogoro region, Tanzania
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Date
2012
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Abstract
A study was carried out to assess production performance and value chain of Nile tilapia grown
in ponds of small-scale farmers in Morogoro region, Tanzania. Information was collected
through individual interviews of 30 fish farmers. The main reasons for culturing fish were
provision of animal protein food for home consumption (66.7%) and generation of income
(23.3%). Fish farming contributed 10.6% of household annual income and was ranked second to
crop production (50%). The majority of the farmers were fertilizing their ponds with chicken
manure (30.0%) and cattle manure (23.3%). Most farmers (73.3%) cultured pure stand of Nile
tilapia and only few (26.7%) practiced polyculture of Nile tilapia and African catfish. All farmers
depended on natural food as a source of feed for their fish. Moreover, the farmers were feeding
maize bran (96.7%), vegetables (66.7%), and kitchen leftovers (13.3%) as supplementary feeds.
Men were responsible for purchasing and stocking fingerlings (60.0%), feeding (40.0%), pond
maintenance (53.3%), harvesting (60.0%) and selling (43.3%). Women were mainly involved in
fish processing (76.7%). The average period from stocking to harvesting was 5.75 ± 0.18 months
for Nile tilapia and the mean yield was 6,946.2 kg/ha per year. About 22.2% of the harvested fish
were consumed at home and the remaining (77.8%) were sold. The main actors in the value
chain of cultured Nile Tilapia were fingerling producers, fish farmers and consumers. Most
farmers sold fresh fish directly to neighbours (70.0%) and consumers in the local market within
the village (30.0%). It is concluded that small-scale fish farming is important for provision of
animal protein food and income and is done mostly by men, and it is characterized by low
productivity due to improper pond fertilization and feeding. The major problems to Nile tilapia
farming under small-scale fish farming is lack of funds, stunted growth of stocked fish,
inadequate knowledge on fish farming and unavailability of concentrate feeds.
Description
Paper
Keywords
Feeding, marketing, Nile tilapia, pond fertilization, yield