admin
Herald Reporter
Some 33 385 tonnes of fish farmed under the Presidential Fisheries Scheme have been harvested this year, more than 50 percent up in just 18 months from 20 000 tonnes a year.
Fish farming is seen as a very fast way to boost food supplies and provide more income for those involved.
The growing number of large and small dams, right down to the little farm dams, plus the fish ponds being dug in villages to be fed by the village boreholes, can all be stocked with fish.
The accelerated growth in irrigation should accelerate the number of large and small water bodies that can be exploited for fish, in the dual-use of irrigation infrastructure for fish farming.
The Presidential Fisheries Scheme is aimed at improving access to affordable protein at household level, while enabling commerce from the sale of surplus produce.
The Government targets to increase the number of dams stocked with fingerlings and under sustainable management to 1 200 dams across the country by next year, as small farm dams are brought into the mix, and to increase fingerlings production to 167 million a year.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter