Investing in fish feeds (pellets) production

Fish feeds constitute more than 70percent of the input in fish farming.  It is therefore an important input.  Every effort must be made to encourage investment in fish feeds production.

The project is seen as one of the opportunities for fish farmers to diversify and at the same time reduce the cost of feeding their fishes as the establishment of fish feeds factory will bring down feeding costs as against buying  ready-made ones from shops.

Technical information

Fish feeds production involves procurement of ingredients such as maize, groundnut cake, starch, palm oil, fish meal.  The ingredients are milled to the powdery form and mixed together in a recommended proportion with water to make it marshy.  They are later fed into the pelleting machine for the purpose of getting them into pellets.

The pellets are later taken to the dryer for the purpose of drying.  Effective drying guarantees the ‘floatness’ of the pellets in the pond.  The more pellets can float on ponds, the better.  To establish the project, you need to get a good site, procure and install the machine including the utility items.  This is followed by procurement of raw materials and project take-off.  Serious minded investors can be assisted to successfully set up the project.

Profitability

The plant has the capacity of producing 200 tonnes of fish feeds per annum.  Net profit of N30, 000 can be made on every tonne of feed produced. This translates to net income of N6 million per annum.  This is another feasible and genuine means of livelihood for Nigerians.

OLUMAKINDE ONI