KALINGA, May 29, 2020 – Seventy-five (75) Mangali fisherfolks received a complete package of aquaculture livelihood projects comprising of 42,000 pieces of tilapia fingerlings, 500 pieces of carps, and 305 bags of feeds (partial) amounting to Php 279,900 from FY 2019 funding from the Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) Program. SAAD Kalinga team started the distribution on April 21, 2020.

There are 2,406 registered fisherfolks in the province of Kalinga, 236 of whom are members of the Mangali tribe from Tanudan municipality. The tribe usually plants rice to make a living but when they heard about aquaculture that would help them generate more income, they gradually converted their rice lands into fishponds.   

Prior to the distribution of inputs, Provincial Fishery Office (PFO) Kalinga oriented the beneficiaries about the SAAD Program and discussed aquaculture production to minimize the mortality of stocks during the culture period. Thus, good aquaculture practices were emphasized.

Each fisherfolk prepared a pond area ranging from 50 to 200 square meters (sqm), which has a stocking density of five (5) pieces of tilapia fingerlings per sqm. One unit is equivalent to a 200-sqm pond area. With that, the recipient can have 1,000 pieces of tilapia fingerlings and 10 bags of feeds, good for one cropping season. 

The stocked fingerlings are expected to mature in four (4) months with a projected yield of 6.7 metric tons (mt).

Meanwhile, the other Mangali fisherfolk-beneficiaries are still preparing their pond areas. Fortunately, the community quarantine period has provided the fisherfolk enough time to manually construct and prepare their backyard farms. The distribution of inputs will be done once their ponds are ready for stocking. 

Fish production in Kalinga is now becoming a promising venture as it generates alternative income. In fact, the province produced 505.03 mt of fish in 2019. ###

Writer: Joyce Ducyogen and Ryan Manuel, SAAD Kalinga PFO; SAAD CAR Information Officer

Photos: BFAR CAR