The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has now started the urban demonstrations of its coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) livelihood intervention project in Bicol using an aquaponics system technology which allows soilless planting including fishraising, which can be done even in a backyard setup.
Nonie Enolva, BFAR-Bicol spokesperson, in an interview, said their office has handed 10 units each of aquaponics mechanism to the cities of Legazpi, Ligao, and Tabaco in Albay; Iriga and Naga in Camarines Sur; Sorsogon City in Sorsogon; and in Catanduanes State University in Catanduanes.
Enolva said the aquaponics technology is first rolled out to major cities for demonstrations to the farmers and fisherfolk who would be identified as recipients of the program by the local government units.
“But BFAR will be the one to conduct validation of these program recipients through our provincial fishery offices,” Enolva told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Tuesday.
“The very objective of this technology is for the farmers and fisher folks and other qualified beneficiaries to produce vegetables with less space needed and to culture fish even in their backyards as their dwelling places are far from the sea or bodies of freshwater such as rivers,” Enolva explained.
"The technology would allow culture of tilapia and catfish with a maximum of five pieces of fish per square meter of space".
Enolva said in its full-blown implementation, the aquaponics program is hoped to augment in the production of vegetables and fish even in the urban centers where planting spaces and bodies of water for fish-culturing are not readily accessible.
For more information:
Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources of the Phillipines
www.bfar.da.gov