Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry has disbursed assistance to improve the production of Saline Tilapia Cultivation Village in Sedari Village, Karawang District, West Java Province.
According to the ministry’s official site, saline tilapia is a superior variety of tilapia which can live in brackish water.
"The production of saline tilapia in the village can reach more than 60 tons each hectare per year," Director General of Aquaculture of the ministry Tb Haeru Rahayu said in a statement released here on Sunday.
He continued that several kinds of assistance had been handed to the village, including one excavator, five packages of pond irrigation management assistance, aid packages for aquaculture villages, as well as 400 thousand tilapia seeds.
He expected that the assistance could improve the productivity of the fishery ponds and encourage the surrounding community to involve in advancing the cultivation village.
"I believe that the development of fishery cultivation site in Sedari Village can make the aquaculture activity more organized and productive," the director general remarked.
He said saline tilapia has been chosen as the commodity to be developed in the village since it has high economic value and resistance to disease.
"Our Karawang Aquaculture Production Service Center (BLUPPB) can provide quality saline tilapia seeds from superior parents at affordable prices,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Acting Head of the Fisheries Office of Karawang District Abu Bukhori stated that the development of saline tilapia cultivation in the district has become very promising since the government had restricted the implementation of floating net cage fishery cultivation in Jatiluhur Dam in, Purwakarta District, West Java .
"Through the development of the aquaculture village, we hope that the potentials for 18 thousand-hectare ponds in Karawang District can be utilized optimally, thus we can improve the cultivation production and farmers welfare,” he continued.
Meanwhile, the prepared area for saline tilapia cultivation in Sedari Village reaches 250 hectares with an average pond,acreage of 2-7 hectares.
A total of 10 fish cultivation groups which consist of 105 cultivators of Sedari Village are estimated to be able to produce 62.5 tons of saline tilapia with a production value of Rp1.125 billion per month.
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