March 16, 2023

Fish feed mill to lower production costs in Aurora, Central Luzon, Philippines

A fish feed mill is set to begin operations in Baler town, Aurora province, located in the eastern part of Central Luzon region, the Philippines, which is expected to reduce fish feed costs for aquaculture production in the area, Philippine News Agency reported.

Wilfredo Cruz, regional director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources-Central Luzon (BFAR-3), said that their agency provided a planning workshop and hands-on feed formulating training to 15 Aurora provincial agriculture staff to improve their knowledge of fish food production.

Cruz said the training aims to prepare the local government to gain technical knowledge on developing a cost-effective feed formulation using cheaper and locally available ingredients.

In February 2022, collaborative plans for the establishment of the Aurora feed mill facility were announced, with funding from the BFAR and the National Fisheries Research Development Institute.

The project began in March of that year and is now approximately 80% complete.

According to the BFAR official, construction has moved on to the next phase, which includes the addition of milling and mixing equipment as well as warehouse space.

Cruz previously agreed with DA Undersecretary for Agri-Industrialization and Fisheries Cheryl Marie Natividad-Caballero and Aurora local officials that indigenous and readily available materials such as water spinach, malunggay (moringa), rice husk, and copra would be used in the feed mill to reduce production costs.

He said that the feed mill will alleviate local fisherfolk's concerns about the high cost of commercial fish feed.

-      Philippine News Agency