``I have started my feed businessto help shrimp farmers of this area. I
found that commercial feed is very expensive and farmers are not getting good
result from it. . Then AIN project came here with their idea to start a
Community Feed Center (CFC) intervention and I have installed a semi-auto feed
machine with their support as part of the CFC. Now the farmers are more aware
about the quality of feed; farmers have learned this from the USAID-AIN project
and are now more critical about what feed they use for the shrimp and fish.
Tushar Kanti Sarkar is operator
of a CFC “S H Feed” in Bakhorgonj bazar of Chitalmari upazila in Bagerhat
district. In 2015, he started the CFC
with technical support and co-funding from the USAID-AIN project
implemented by WorldFish. Mr. Tushar
sells commercial feed, produced by various commercial feed mills located
far away. With his feed machine he makes feed for use in his own farm, but
he doesn’t make feed for sale. Instead he rents out the feed machine to his
neighbors. The fee for the use of the feed mill is 4 taka per kg including the
time of his laborers. Mr. Tushar sells the feed ingredients to the farmer so he
earns on the ingredients as well as on the user fee. Mr. Tushar has the guidelines for quality
feed provided by the project clearly displayed in his shop so all are clear
about the minimum requirements of each type of feed.
For the farmer the advantage is
that they can choose exactly the type of feed they want and they can confirm
that what they pay for is what they get.
For Mr. Tushar, the CFC is a good
diversification of his business, the farmers who have no time or interest to
worry about feed quality buy ready-made feed from him, and the farmers, who
want to optimize their production, produce their own feed at the CFC. He says,` if any farmer once uses his or her
own made feed, he will not go for commercial feed again. I also have the same
experience in my own farm. Farmers rely
on the CFC because they know everything of the feed; the ingredients and the
protein percentage.
Most farmers agree that with
commercial feed the results are variable and fish grow slower. A farmer who is
counting the days until the fish reaches market size, sees the benefit of
faster growth and less feed requirement.
Shekhor Mondol is one of the
shrimp farmers, who makes feed at the
“S H Feed” CFC. He told, `` During the last 10 years I have been
involved in shrimp-prawn- carp poly culture. Before the start of this CFC, I
was using commercial feed. But with that feed my production was not up to the
mark. Sometimes I also found sand in the feed. We did not believe that the
percentage of protein which was mentioned on the packet, was correct. Now I am
making my own feed at the CFC and I am getting better results than
before‘’. He added, “I am very much
confident about the CFC feed, because I know what are the ingredients and from
the formula provided by USAID-AIN, I can calculate the percentage protein.
Sometimes though the price is the same or even a little higher than commercial
feed, but I am getting quality feed from this CFC.
Vabonath Majumder is another
farmer from Chitalmari, he says, `` I have been involved in shrimp-prawn- carp
poly culture for the last 15 years. When I started fish and shrimp farming,
there were no feed dealers in this area as it was a very remote area. We were using handmade feed made with rice
husk and wheat flower; very rarely we were using commercial feed. So I have
both experiences. Since the CFC started, I don’t use any commercial feed. I bought ingredient from the local market and
make my own feed at the CFC. I don’t need to go to the town market to buy feed
so I save time and transport cost. As I
am getting good quality feed and good production, we are not worried about the
cost of the feed. ‘’
Tushar Kanti Sarker is happy with
his CFC. His demand is increasing day by day. According to him, he has started
his CFC ”SH Feed” in July 2015 and
produced 40 tons feed until September
2016. He used 6 tons for his own farm
production and 34 tons were produced in the CFC by the farmers of Chitalmari
area.
Even female farmers come to the
CFC because it is in their community and they can easily reach the place. The
CFC employs some women who are paid a wage by kg produced, a good opportunity
for poor women who look for an income within the community. Though demand for quality feed from CFC is
increasing day by day, Tushar is still facing some challenges. According to
him,`` My shop is in a remote area. It
is not always easy to get all ingredients as the demand is increasing day by
day. I hope some people will start to produce their own ingredients in their
farm.
The USAID-AIN project works with
the Department of Fisheries to make the large commercial feed mills aware of
the Feed Act, which regulates the quality of feed. With the project support, 62
CFC have produced 956 tons fish feed since Oct 2015- Sept 2016. About half of
the feed is used by the CFC operators. In future when the commercial feed
increases more in quality, Mr. Tushar can just sell commercial feed and use
more than the present 15% of his production for his own shrimp and fish farm.
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