How to Produce Fish Feed in Nigeria will be explained in this article. This will guide you in the production of your fish feed.
How to Manufacture Fish Feed
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Nigeria is a nation blessed with large water bodies passing through all the states of the federation. The majority of the populace consumes fish in some quantity which varies based on the availability of water bodies in their community.
Fish is known to be a very rich source of protein. This has been a major source of protein for those in the lower class of society.
Due to the high rate of the consumption of fish in Nigeria, many persons ventured into the rearing of fish in Nigeria.
Catfish are the most common breed of fish reared in Nigeria. Fish production is a very lucrative business with a high-profit margin.
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It is one of the less risky agricultural businesses in Nigeria. But one of the challenges faced by the fish farmers is non-availability and the high cost of feed. This leads to how fish feed can be produced in Nigeria.
How to Produce Fish Feed in Nigeria
Fish feed ingredients
Just like other animals, fish requires a feed formula that contains protein, carbohydrates, lipids, minerals, and vitamins for healthy growth.
Fish requires mostly protein in their feed. The major ingredients used for fish feed production include:
- Rice Bran: The bran layer and germ of the rice are rich in fat, and are good for fish food.
- Fish Meal: It is produced by cooking fish, rolling and pressing to remove water and oil, and then drying. This ingredient is responsible for the protein supplementation in the fish feed.
- Soyabean Meal: This is the major source of protein in the fish feed formulation, it is especially high in essential amino acids, is palatable, and can easily be digested by fish.
- Groundnut Cake: This can be included in place of soyabean in the feed. It supplies amino acids.
- Cottonseed Meal: It is highly palatable and contains about 40% protein.
- Maize: This is the major source of carbohydrates in the fish feed formulation and accounts for up to 30% of the total diet.
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Other ingredients include wheat offal, vitamins, growth boosters, crayfish dust, cassava, palm oil, eggs, salt, etc.
Feed Formulation Procedure:
These ingredients are used based on the feed formula chosen. Depending on the kind of feed required, pelleting or extrusion can be used.
The process whereby food ingredients are forced to flow under conditions of mixing, beating, and heating, through a die that forms the ingredient is known as Feed extrusion.
Extruded floating feeds are favored by farmers in Nigeria because they allow observation of the feeding processing thereby preventing wasteful feeding.
If it is done by pelletizing, the pellets sink rapidly when thrown into the pond, pollute the water, and crumble, thus leading to wasteful feeding.
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Here are Guides on How to Produce Fish Feed in Nigeria
- These ingredients are mixed in their right proportion by a feed mixing machine.
- It is then transferred to a feed pelleting machine which cuts the feed into desired sizes.
- The feed is then dried using a feed drier.
- Once properly dried, it is stored in a cool and dry place to avoid damping of the feed which may infect the feed and render it no longer useful.
The summary of the process is as follows:
Fish feed grinding – Feed mixing – Feed extrusion – pellet drying – oil spraying and pellet cooling and packing.
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Anyone can produce Fish Feed with the knowledge provided above. Challenges in making feeds in Nigeria are not in sourcing the ingredients but in the techniques involved in formulation and processing which have been x-rayed above.
