Angad Persaud, a 55-year-old resident of Esau and Jacob, located on the left bank of the Mahaicony Creek has decided to put his land to good use and is venturing into large-scale fish farming.
He has already dug three huge ponds and now has to pump water into them, which he said is a very slow process. A little water was already in the ponds and he said that it was from the intermittent rainfall.
This is not Persaud’s first venture into fish farming, although previously it was not on such a large scale. During a visit to his farm on Saturday he told Stabroek News that he had been rearing hassars but lost them to the flood.
Persaud and his son, Mohanram ‘Johan’ Persaud got down to work over a month ago to ensure that the ponds are built “higher than the road” to withstand flooding.
Two of the ponds would be used to rear tilapia and one has the capacity to hold 14,000 fishes. Persaud said he would start with 4,000 fingerlings that would be acquired from the Ministry of Agriculture.
Persaud has already eyed a Barbados market for the fish and would also continue to rear hassar which would be sold locally. The ponds are located close his home which overlooks the Mahaicony Creek. He told this newspaper that he decided to get into the business because he had the land available and he just wanted to find “something to do.” Apart from that he also plants an organic kitchen garden for his home use.
