Dr Madu Kanti, a lecturer in the Department of Animal Health and Production Technology, Federal College of Horticulture, Dadin-Kowa, Gombe State has called on youths to make fish farming a vocation.
Kanti, who made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gombe on Wednesday, said the call became imperative in view of the severe impact of coronavirus pandemic on the economy.
He said that with the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, it would be difficult for youths to secure white collar jobs, hence the need to engage in fish farming which had always been a lucrative venture.
According to him, with the possible threat of a major food crisis following the severe impact of COVID-19 on all sectors of human endeavours, more hands are needed to boost food security in the country.
“If youths will go into fish farming, for example, catfish, they will know that it is a sector to make good money. With proper management, you can harvest your fish between four and six months.
“If you invest N200, 000, you will harvest fish worth N400, 000 in six months meaning you can do two rounds in a year and the market is there for you to sell the fish.
“People like fish a lot because it is a good source of animal protein; go to hospital sometimes the doctor will advise people to take more of fish because it is good for the body,’’ he said.
Read also: Edo 2020: ADC Youths Purchase Expression of Interest Form for Obaseki
The don added that with the coming of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, there have been renewed interests in agricultural sector, noting that youths were now going into the sector to make ends meet.
“The era of feeling agriculture is for the old or rural people is gone. Today many youths and even rich people are going into various vocations under the agricultural sector and are making cool cash.’’
He said that one of the ways youths could contribute their quota to fighting the pandemic was by going into agricultural sector to ensure that the impact of COVID-19 was mitigated through improvement in food security.
While commending Gombe government for incorporating youths into the ‘Gombe Goes Green’ initiative to plant one million trees every year and providing jobs for youths, Kanti called on government to do same with fish farming.
“I call on Gombe State Government to set up a programme to train youths in fish production and support them with starter packs. We have experts at the college that can train youths in that regard.
“With the abundance of water bodies in Dadin Kowa, if youths are trained and given starter packs, they can make a living and that will reduce unemployment which government is passionate to address,’’ he said.(NAN)