The Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry has modified a non-functioning shrimp pond into a pilot project model for saline tilapia farming ponds in Karawang, West Java.
“These are shrimp ponds that are no longer functioning properly because they are old models. (They are) people’s core ponds that were built during that era (the New Order). They are contaminated with dirt and so on,”Remarked the Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono Karawang.
With a modified pond area of 80ha, Trenggono has projected an ROI of three years with capital disbursed by the government. The saline tilapia pilot project model is divided into two parts, namely block A that is a production pond existing, with an area of 16ha consisting of 22 pond plots, and block B, with an area of 20ha, with 36 pond plots.
This was followed by additional development clusters, namely block C, with an area of 20.5ha comprising 36 plots and block B, with a total area of 23.5 hectares consisting of 56 pond plots.
The 80ha pond area utilized is projected to be able to produce 7,020 tonnes of production in one cycle for eight to nine months, with a target weight of each fish reaching one kilogram.Based on the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) data, the total funds disbursed in modifying shrimp ponds into saline tilapia ponds reached Rp76.6 billion (US$4.8 million).
The cost of production (HPP) for saline tilapia is projected at IDR24,500 per kilogram (kg), while the selling price is IDR30,000 per kg, so the profit margin obtained is IDR5,500 per kg.
With the projected harvest of saline tilapia per cycle, the total sales value reaches IDR210.6 billion (US$13.4 million), the total HPP production value at IDR171.9 billion (US$10.9 million), and profit margin is estimated to reach IDR38.61 billion (US$2.4 million).
