Poor soil and pests have increasingly affected crop production in Nakaseke district of Uganda. The farmers are now taking some alternative sources of income and the find fish farming is easy and better. Emmanuel Lubega told that the diversion from crop production to fish farming is mainly due to poor soils, pests, diseases and the prolonged drought. According to Lubega fish farming is the most sought after second option for the farmers in this area.
Lubega started fish farming two years ago and now owns 12 ponds with various types of fish such as cat-fish, tilapia and lung fish. He said that the main reason behind his venturing into fish farming is his swampy land, which was neither use it for crop production nor animal rearing. He added that crops do not grow because of too much water and rearing cattle were attacked by foot and mouth disease.
Lubega told that he has received training from both Environmental Alert and the National Agriculture Research Organisation on how to practice sustainable agriculture without harming the environment and how to make food for the fish. He added that the training helped him to cut down production costs. Presently he has a stock of 10,000 tilapia and 1,000 cat-fish. Cat-fish takes six months to mature while tilapia takes eight months. He expects to earn more than sh10m out of his stock.
