PRESS RELEASE

19 February 2021

DA-BFAR PROMOTES URBAN AQUACULTURE AS ALTERNATIVE LIVELIHOOD TO ASF-AFFECTED HOG GROWERS

Top officials and officers of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) head to Barangay Bagong Silangan, Quezon City today, February 19, to introduce urban aquaculture as alternative livelihood to ASF-affected hog growers.

The urban aquaculture project, a part of the key strategies under the OneDA approach initiated by Agriculture Secretary William Dar, is devised to stimulate agro-fisheries productivity in the cities by converting vacant lots or structures into food production areas, such as vegetable garden, aquaponics, and fish tanks or backyard fishponds.

“The urban aquaculture project is not only a means for ASF-affected hog growers to acquire alternative livelihood and additional income but also an effort to ensure continuous local food supply in highly urbanized cities like Quezon City during this pandemic,” Undersecretary for Agri-Industrialization and for Fisheries Cheryl Natividad-Caballero said.

Under the said project, DA-BFAR’s National Capital Region (NCR) Office, in partnership with the local government of Quezon City led by Mayor Joy Belmonte, is set to distribute around 10,000 pieces of hito and 9,000 pieces of tilapia fingerlings to 60 identified ASF-affected hog raisers Barangay Bagong Silangan and Payatas whose deserted pigpens have been converted into fish tanks suitable for fish culture.

The fish tanks will be stocked with fingerlings and will be equipped with recirculating aquaculture system to filter out waste and provide more dissolved oxygen in the water in order to maintain the water’s good quality essential to the health and growth of the fish. 

 Aside from those, the assistance package will also come with 60 units of filtration system and commercial feeds that would last a cycle of feeding of three to four months. For one cycle, the urban aquaculture project is estimated to produce 1.58 metric tons of hito and 1.29 metric tons of tilapia.

DA-BFAR hopes to partner with more city governments to establish urban aquaculture sites. According to Usec. Caballero, the Department of Agriculture is committed to assist urban communities that would like to engage in productivity-enhancing projects that will address food supply availability to the consuming public and provide livelihood opportunities to urban Aqua-farmers.