Young start-up use cattle dung as fish fodder

The Jakarta Post, Tangerang Sat, June 08 2013


An idle fish pond, an endless supply of cattle dung and curiosity that launched a research project on new fodder for simple, low-cost and profitable fish cultivation have shown satisfying results.

Rio Albab, 22, a graduate of Groningen University in the Netherlands who works as an architect in Tangerang, found a formula that he said was equal to, if not better than, the more expensive, factory-made fish fodder.

“I started the research after a neighbor told me late last year about a 2-hectare fish pond on offer for sale here,” he told The Jakarta Post at his pond in Kramat village, Pakuhaji district of Tangerang regency, Banten, during the recent first harvest of milkfish.

He thought of making use of the piles of cow manure at a ranch in Rumpin district in Bogor, West Java, owned by his father-in-law Bambang Sumitro. Some 5,000 cows are raised at the 50-hectare ranch, producing at least 40 tons of dung each day.

Perfecting the method through trial and error, he dried the dung by planting a certain kind of microorganism on it, then spread the mixture on the embankment of the milkfish pond. Rio said the dried dung had accelerated the growth of plankton that milkfish like to eat.

In his next project, he blended the dung with silica, fish powder, bran, sawdust and sugarcane to accelerate growth.

“Silica can accelerate the growth of fish bones, fish powder contains calcium and fat, while sawdust contains fiber and decomposing bacteria, and sugarcane contains lactobacillus that makes the fodder tasty while stimulating appetite,” he said.

It only took three months for him to produce milkfish that weighed 350 grams, priced between Rp 20,000 (US$21) and Rp 22,000 per kilogram in the market.

“Normally, it takes about seven months to harvest fully grown milkfish. The fish weigh 200 grams at most and farmers could only sell them for Rp 12,000 per kilogram. The fodder can reduce production cost by 30 percent and speed up harvesting to just four months,” Rio said.

Rio named his product Cow Menur and is currently seeking support from the Tangerang regency and Banten administrations to help introduce the cheap fodder to other farmers.

“It would be helpful because farmers can use it to get maximum results with minimum cost,” he added.

A fish farmer, Bambang Sumoto, said that it worked well for all kinds of freshwater fish, including ikan mujair (tilapia), ikan mas (carp) and catfish.

“It could also be used for shrimp cultivation and organic fertilizer,” he said.