Rationale

     Aquaculture of tilapia in ponds is one solution that can augment food supply in rural areas. This project was able to set up small-scale backyard tilapia fishponds for beneficiaries/participants in Laguna and Nasugbu, Batangas. This project allowed the beneficiaries to develop and implement livelihood activities. Secondly, it ensures that they will be able to address their basic food requirements, especially in terms of protein requirements.

Objectives

     The project aims to increase the disposable income of poor household families in Batangas during the post-lockdown period for COVID-19 affected areas.

Accomplishments

• 15 fisherfolk households were selected as tilapia farmer cooperators and were trained on how to compute for the costs associated with backyard tilapia culture (e.g., cost of fingerlings, feeds) in order to compute for the net income of profit after market sale of the harvested tilapia.
• Fingerlings were delivered to the beneficiaries in two croppings. For each cropping, monitoring sessions were conducted every two weeks to measure water parameters (e.g., temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH) and determine the average body weight (ABW), which was necessary to adjust the feeding scheme. Harvest was done at least 4 months after the initial stocking of fingerlings.
• A livelihood workshop for tilanggit and smoked tilapia production was also taught to the beneficiaries. The overall training included fishpond construction and management, fishpond fertilization using organic and inorganic fertilizers, feeds and feeding, harvesting of stocks, post-harvest handling, record keeping, and simple cost and return analysis.