Farmers seeking to venture into fish farming in Delta North district of Delta State will soon get a boost in variety of fish types, technology and feeds as the Bioresources Development Centre, a Federal Government agency, is set to partner with Aniocha South Local Government Area to operationalise its facility in Ubulu-Uku.

The centre is expected to provide fingerlings of different fish types as well as back up technical and logistic support to aquaculture farmers. The collaboration is in line with the revamping and rehabilitation of operational activities of the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) in Asaba. The agro centre is the only one in Delta State and just one of 25 centres built by NABDA across the country.

Presenting the proposal to the agency, the coordinator of the centre, Ms. Chinenye Blessing Aruah, pleaded that the council to take urgent steps in ensuring that the Ubulu-Uku centre bounces back into full operation. According to Ms. Aruah, the town as an agrarian community has a lot of resources that can be harnessed profitably. She said “in the course of our stay in the community, we realised that catfish is expensive due to the fact that it is not reared there. We learnt that the fish that is sold in Ubulu-Uku comes from Asaba leading to high retail prices. We want to encourage aquaculture farmers in this region, because fish is an important source of protein.”

“We understand that the Nigerian catfish (Clarias gariepinus) has a big market in Ubulu-Uku and we have decided that we are going to train the people on how to rear and grow this fish species; we will make fingerlings available for them”, Aruah said, adding that the most pressing need of the centre is perimeter fencing. The Executive Chairman of Aniocha South council, Mr. Jude Chukwunwike, promised to provide necessary support for NABDA, stating that the project is in tandem with his administration’s desire to create the environment for young men and women to engage in agriculture, including aquaculture. Sun News