Quality feed for fish farming still a big challenge: analysts

Local fish farmers need adequate and timely supply of quality feed at affordable cost so they can help the country increase fish productivity and output, analysts said.

It is still a major challenge to ensure availability of quality feed in Bangladesh, they said.

The Bangladesh Shrimp and Fish Foundation (BSFF) and the Feed Industries Association Bangladesh jointly organised the programme Tuesday in collaboration with the fisheries department and the Agribusiness Trade Competitiveness Project of Katalyst under the commerce ministry.

Feed constitutes one of the most important inputs needed for intensification and augmentation of fish productivity and output, the BSFF said in a statement.

Costs for feed at times are very high and farmers may not always know how to properly use feed in the most effective and economic way, the BSFF said.

To overcome these challenges, the speakers called for cooperation among the government, fish feed producers in the private sector and development partners for future growth of the sector.

Syed Mahmudul Huq, chairman of the BSFF, presided over the workshop.

Tapan Kanti Ghosh, additional secretary of the commerce ministry; Md Kamruzzaman, a joint secretary of the fisheries and livestock ministry; Syed Arif Azad, director general of the fisheries department, and Moshiur Rahman, president of the Feed Industries Association Bangladesh, also spoke.