KALINGA, July 8, 2020 – Ms. Germain Oplay, 32 years old, is a resident of Barangay Ipil, Tabuk City in Kalinga. She is one of the fisherfolk-beneficiaries of the Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) Program, who attested the advantage of backyard farming.

She used to work as an employee and a call center agent in Manila three years ago. Now, with her resoluteness to succeed in her endeavors, she went back to her hometown and began the journey of fish farming.

Since 2013, her family already had a pond stocked with tilapia only for consumption. But when she gets back from Manila, she heard about SAAD program and it motivated her to be one of the beneficiaries. With her passion to make their farmland productive, she prepared and expand their fishpond to an area of 241 square meters in hope to qualify as beneficiary of the program in 2017.

But, Ms. Oplay became a SAAD beneficiary in 2019 which she received 1000 tilapia fingerlings taken from Rizal Lowland Fish Farm, a Technology Outreach Station of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) located in Kalinga; 10 bags of feeds, harvesting net, and crates as part of the livelihood package. This project is under the Pond Culture of SAAD for FY 2019.

While doing the fish farming, Ms. Oplay was also provided with technical assistance for her to gain additional knowledge on aquaculture management that will guide her along the journey.

“I am grateful for this intervention the bureau is providing, especially that despite the COVID-19 scare, you still extend and continue your services for the fisherfolk like me. These inputs were really of great help for my family since we can now produce fish not only for us but for the community,” Ms. Oplay stated in gratitude.

 The project implementation was spearheaded by the bureau’s PFO Kalinga wherein the project inputs were provided and delivered on-site to observe proper safety and health protocols due to COVID–19 threat.

 Results

 First Production Cycle

Ms. Oplay stocked the tilapia on September 6, 2019. After three months of culture, she harvested a total of 185 kgs of tilapia in December which was sold at Php 130.00 per kilo and earned Php 24,050.00.

Second Production Cycle

On April 7, 2020, Ms. Oplay stocked tilapia fingerlings again for second cropping. After culture period, she harvested a total of 152 kgs of tilapia ranging from 5 to 6 pcs per kilo. She was able to produce a total of 884 pieces or 88.4% survival rate on July 8, 2020. The produced fresh marketable tilapia was sold within the community at Php 130.00 per kilo, thus the total harvest can be valued at Php 19,760.00.

With the result of the venture, Ms. Oplay plans to add up on her activities such as rice and poultry farming.

Despite the community quarantine being imposed, the BFAR sees to it that fisheries livelihood project implementation remains unhampered, thus accelerating effort on continuous food production to provide readily available fish supply in the community.

While the country restricts people’s mobility to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease, various projects got underway in the provinces of Kalinga and Mountain Province.

This is part of the relentless efforts of the DA-BFAR SAAD amidst this pandemic crisis.

Writer: Ryan Manuel, BFAR-CAR Information Officer
Copy Editor: Jennifer A. Valcobero, SAAD NPMO PR and Comms Officer
Source of Photos: BFAR-CAR