Don laments rising cost of basic feedstuffs for fish formulation

Professor Adejoke Abeni Adewumi of the Ekiti State University(EKSU),Ado-Ekiti, Thursday urged the federal government to double efforts at improving national security as many farmers are abandoning farms.

Adewumi, who is a professor of Fish Nutrition and Aquaculture Management at EKSU stated this while delivering the 88th Industrial Lecture Titled: ‘Re-Engineering The Food Of Teleosts And Evaluating Their Benefits’.

He posited that government should provide assistance to the agricultural sector in general and allocate a larger proportion of funds from the state budget for the blue economy.

Professor Adewumi lamented that many farmers are complaining about the high cost of feed and that this is prompted by the increase in the price of raw materials for the feed formulation.

“Our various research works have provided panacea to the challenge as contribution towards the blue economy. We have also reported zooplankton-fish relationship for the understanding of the relevant stakeholders in fish breeding and rearing.

“As the world population grows, there is increased consumption of fish and the need for the production of enough fish to meet up with the growing demand. Humans began eating fish at least 2 million years ago and the practice of harvesting and consuming seafood is an ancient one.

“For Nigeria to achieve self-sufficiency in fish production, Nigeria urgently needs to strengthen aquafeed production.

“The government needs to encourage young persons involved in aquafeed production by providing them with incentives such as trainings, provision of soft loans etc,” she said.

Professor Adewumi pointed out that now that the federal government has floated the Ministry of Blue Economy and Marine Resources, it is essential for the relevant states to do the same at the state level so that we could direct more attention to mariculture and take advantage of the huge resources in the marine environment.