Today’s blog entry comes from Dr. Bill Daniels from Auburn University, who recently completed a Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer assignment in Bangladesh.

“Bangladesh is a lush, green tropical country, at least during the rainy season, and the delta region has water everywhere. It is not surprising that it is the 5^th largest producer of aquaculture products, but it could produce so much more. Its people and culture are also most hospitable and welcoming to the outsider. Despite the language barrier, people went out of their way to make the visit enjoyable.

According to the Department of Fisheries, aquaculture and fisheries provide employment of 17 million people in Bangladesh, 60% of animal protein supply and 650 million US$ export earnings per year. It has 10 million hectares of rice fields with an additional 2.8 million hectares of seasonal rice fields where water remain 4-6 months (BRKB 2010). In 2014, fish production reached 3.5 million metric tons. Despite the lush conditions of Bangladesh, the intensity of aquaculture production is relatively low compared to other Asian countries. In Bangladesh, aquaculture production is mainly extensive and the production rate is comparatively low. For example, shrimp yield is only 200-300 kg/ha/year.

Freshwater prawn (Golda) production in Bangladesh (and also in Myanmar –where I completed another F2F assignment earlier this year) is hampered by the lack of hatchery-reared post-larvae for pond stocking and has to be supplemented with wild-caught post-larvae and juveniles. Despite the numerous existing hatcheries, most of these are not producing because of continued failure to consistently produce larvae leading to high financial losses.

My assignment focused on evaluating the cause of prawn larval mortalities and training in proper hatchery management to reduce losses. This work focused on working with the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute’s Shrimp Research Center in Bagerhat located near the area where freshwater prawns are grown and marketed. Through its staff and scientists, we were able to convert an existing system (water exchange based) into a closed recirculating system to provide better water quality and solids removal along with better biosecurity and daily hatchery management.

I am looking forward to seeing the fruits of our labor when the rainy season ends and a new era in Golda hatcheries begins!”

This week’s blog post comes from Mike Frinsko, an aquaculture expert from North Carolina State University, who has volunteered three times with Winrock’s USAID-funded Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) program. His most recent F2F assignment was focused on improving water quality management in fish ponds in Bangladesh. Below, he shares his impressions of the country and thoughts about his assignment: (more…)

This article is a contribution to a week-long blog carnival on USAID’s John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) Program. From July 14-18, F2F program partners and American volunteers are sharing their knowledge and experience of providing technical assistance to farmers, farm groups, agribusinesses, service providers, and other agriculture sector institutions in developing and transitional countries. This blog carnival aims to capture and share this program experience. You can find all contributions on Agrilinks.

We loved volunteer Joe Sullivan’s statement below. Let’s start the day inspired! (more…)

Dr. Hugh Thomforde recently finished his three week assignment with Farmer-to-Farmer in Burma (also known as Myanmar), where he conducted workshops for 101 farmers in four townships on water quality monitoring for freshwater fish and prawn farmers. While writing his end-of-assignment report he reflected on his time there, noting: (more…)

This just in from volunteer Chantel Welch:

“In the past week I have seen some amazing work done by local farmers, people who attended relatively short trainings (generally 3-5 days), took the information that they were given and not walked, but ran with it. One group of friends started a monosex tilapia hatchery; they will soon supply neighboring farmers with high-demand stock. Another man created an improved aquaponic system using locally available materials and a combination of solar, electric, and foot pumps; prepared for any circumstance. He has spent the past year improving his system, adapting it for his unique circumstances, and is beginning to generate sales of fish and vegetables in his local community. This same man trained a group of people in a western coastal village on aquaponics – in their area vegetables are unavailable in the summer season and all fresh produce is trucked in from 8-10 hours away. Extension services at work. I spend more time now thinking back on my days in 4-H, marveling at the amazing cooperative extension service that we have in the United States, one that I took for granted as a young farmer-in-training.”

U Saw Hei Moo at his aquaponic farm near Yangon, Burma