Post by Trade facilitator on Jun 4, 2022 13:46:25 GMT 1
The Secret Of Catfish Farming Business In Nigeria: What Every Aspiring Farmer Must Know
In this article we, are going to start a series on Catfish farming in Nigeria. It is going to be explosive; therefore I implore you to follow us diligently so as not to miss any of the series.
After this training, we expect that you will be capable of starting your own catfish farm. It is absolutely possible if you can pay attention to all we are going to be teaching you in this series.
Why do people want to go into fish farming, especially catfish farming?
Fish farming in general is one of the fastest growing animal husbandry industries in Nigeria and the world as a whole. There are different types of fish species, but we are only familiar with about two types in Nigeria: the Tilapia and Catfish.
Nigeria imports more than 500,000 metric tons of fish annually, the nation produces only 1.4 million metric tonnes and the annual demand of fish in the country is 2.66 million metric tonnes. Though the country is trying by producing 1.4 million metric tonnes annually, there is still a huge gap that requires to be filled.
If you buy and eat fish regularly in the country you will know that the commonest one that you see everywhere is Catfish. Why is it so? The reason is that catfish is the easiest species of fish to raise commercially by anybody at any time.
One of the things I like about catfish farming is that it does not have season. So you can enter into the business at any time and make your money
The Major Catfish Farming Systems
The following are the major systems for rearing Catfish and they include:
Recycling system
Flow-through system
Floating cage system
Earthen pond system
Concrete system
Tarpaulin pond system
Household system
Basic Requirements in Catfish Production
The following are the basic requirements you need for rearing African catfish:
You need to understand that even though rearing catfish in Nigeria and Africa in general is one of the easiest ventures to undertake, you need to follow some basic standards in order not to make mistakes and lose your money.
Water Supply:
You need high-quality, non-polluted water supply. You must have heard a lot of times that water is life, yes it is most glaring in fish farming; if your water is bad you are definitely going to have a difficult time raising quality fish. Therefore, good high-quality non-polluted water is very essential for your catfish farming.
Good Parent Stock/ Brood Stock:
Broodstock, or broodfish, are a group of mature individuals used in aquaculture for breeding purposes. Broodstock can be a population of animals maintained in captivity as a source of replacement for, or enhancement of, seed and fry numbers.
You must select your broodfish from known and reliable origins for fast growth.
Please do not select or buy your broodfish from sources you do not know their origins; if you do that you may end up buying broodfish that will not give you the result you expect.
Water Chemistry Monitoring/ Test Kits:
Water chemistry-monitoring and test kits are some of the most important equipment you need in your catfish farming business. Do not neglect or joke with them because they are what shows you the state of your water and water are essential for your catfish development.
Management:
Among all we have been saying so far, a good management is very important, no matter how good your management plan is, if there is no good manager all the system will collapse. Poor management is one of the greatest problems faced by the catfish farming industry.
Record keeping:
One of the things that kill businesses in Africa is poor record-keeping. You'll be shocked that most small and medium scale businesses in Nigeria do not have proper record-keeping system.
They receive and spend money without proper records. Proper records are like navigation systems; they show you the direction you are going.
Business Plan:
In Africa most people start businesses without a proper business plan. The importance of a plan cannot be overemphasized; if you fail to have a proper business plan you are already planning to fail.
Your business plan shows you the direction to follow in your business to achieve your stated objectives.
Marketing Strategy:
One of the biggest problems that I have seen troubling
many businesses in Nigeria, especially the small-scale businesses is lack of marketing strategy.
You will be surprised that many people go into businesses without actually knowing how to market their products.
They will wait until the products have been fully matured or procured before they start thinking of how to market these products.
If you do this with your farming business, you will enter into a big problem. Please be sure that you have mapped out how to market your final products before entering into the business.
Out of all the basic requirements that were stated above the most important is water.
Your catfish can survive for more than 7 days without food, but cannot survive in bad water or without oxygen for more than 30 minutes.
You do not judge the quality of your water by looking at how clean it is, you must use your testing equipment to know whether it is good water or bad water. Always be sure that your water is not contaminated before giving it to your fish.
Be on the lookout for the next article in this series.
Our company is one of the best companies in Agro-Export Business in Nigeria today, we train individuals and corporate organizations on how to do Export Business the right way; if you are interested, please contact the admin of this forum now for further details.
In this article we, are going to start a series on Catfish farming in Nigeria. It is going to be explosive; therefore I implore you to follow us diligently so as not to miss any of the series.
After this training, we expect that you will be capable of starting your own catfish farm. It is absolutely possible if you can pay attention to all we are going to be teaching you in this series.
Why do people want to go into fish farming, especially catfish farming?
Fish farming in general is one of the fastest growing animal husbandry industries in Nigeria and the world as a whole. There are different types of fish species, but we are only familiar with about two types in Nigeria: the Tilapia and Catfish.
Nigeria imports more than 500,000 metric tons of fish annually, the nation produces only 1.4 million metric tonnes and the annual demand of fish in the country is 2.66 million metric tonnes. Though the country is trying by producing 1.4 million metric tonnes annually, there is still a huge gap that requires to be filled.
If you buy and eat fish regularly in the country you will know that the commonest one that you see everywhere is Catfish. Why is it so? The reason is that catfish is the easiest species of fish to raise commercially by anybody at any time.
One of the things I like about catfish farming is that it does not have season. So you can enter into the business at any time and make your money
The Major Catfish Farming Systems
The following are the major systems for rearing Catfish and they include:
Recycling system
Flow-through system
Floating cage system
Earthen pond system
Concrete system
Tarpaulin pond system
Household system
Basic Requirements in Catfish Production
The following are the basic requirements you need for rearing African catfish:
You need to understand that even though rearing catfish in Nigeria and Africa in general is one of the easiest ventures to undertake, you need to follow some basic standards in order not to make mistakes and lose your money.
Water Supply:
You need high-quality, non-polluted water supply. You must have heard a lot of times that water is life, yes it is most glaring in fish farming; if your water is bad you are definitely going to have a difficult time raising quality fish. Therefore, good high-quality non-polluted water is very essential for your catfish farming.
Good Parent Stock/ Brood Stock:
Broodstock, or broodfish, are a group of mature individuals used in aquaculture for breeding purposes. Broodstock can be a population of animals maintained in captivity as a source of replacement for, or enhancement of, seed and fry numbers.
You must select your broodfish from known and reliable origins for fast growth.
Please do not select or buy your broodfish from sources you do not know their origins; if you do that you may end up buying broodfish that will not give you the result you expect.
Water Chemistry Monitoring/ Test Kits:
Water chemistry-monitoring and test kits are some of the most important equipment you need in your catfish farming business. Do not neglect or joke with them because they are what shows you the state of your water and water are essential for your catfish development.
Management:
Among all we have been saying so far, a good management is very important, no matter how good your management plan is, if there is no good manager all the system will collapse. Poor management is one of the greatest problems faced by the catfish farming industry.
Record keeping:
One of the things that kill businesses in Africa is poor record-keeping. You'll be shocked that most small and medium scale businesses in Nigeria do not have proper record-keeping system.
They receive and spend money without proper records. Proper records are like navigation systems; they show you the direction you are going.
Business Plan:
In Africa most people start businesses without a proper business plan. The importance of a plan cannot be overemphasized; if you fail to have a proper business plan you are already planning to fail.
Your business plan shows you the direction to follow in your business to achieve your stated objectives.
Marketing Strategy:
One of the biggest problems that I have seen troubling
many businesses in Nigeria, especially the small-scale businesses is lack of marketing strategy.
You will be surprised that many people go into businesses without actually knowing how to market their products.
They will wait until the products have been fully matured or procured before they start thinking of how to market these products.
If you do this with your farming business, you will enter into a big problem. Please be sure that you have mapped out how to market your final products before entering into the business.
Out of all the basic requirements that were stated above the most important is water.
Your catfish can survive for more than 7 days without food, but cannot survive in bad water or without oxygen for more than 30 minutes.
You do not judge the quality of your water by looking at how clean it is, you must use your testing equipment to know whether it is good water or bad water. Always be sure that your water is not contaminated before giving it to your fish.
Be on the lookout for the next article in this series.
Our company is one of the best companies in Agro-Export Business in Nigeria today, we train individuals and corporate organizations on how to do Export Business the right way; if you are interested, please contact the admin of this forum now for further details.
