Innovative fish farming project that ‘fishes’ collective dreams in La Jagua

118.4 kilometers from Valledupar, is the municipality of La Jagua de Ibirico in the department of Cesar, a territory of warm people whose main economic activity is mining, but who have currently turned their gaze towards other production alternatives that they seek. the collective well-being of its inhabitants.

The definitive closure of the mining company Prodeco is at hand, whose mining titles were delivered to the State and today it is fulfilling its social and environmental commitments in the territory, which will be settled in approximately two years, but with the firm conviction of leaving a society prepared through high-impact and sustainable projects over time.

There are six projects, of which three are fish farming and three agricultural, developed through associations made up of the same community in their areas of influence in the municipalities of La Jagua de Ibirico, Becerril and in the district of La Loma de Calenturas, in El Paso, Cesar.

One of them is already beginning to bear its first fruits. Located just seven kilometers from the town center, along a narrow road between wooded areas, streams and a lot of economic potential, is the La Estrella village, where a 19-hectare farm that bears the same name is the space where, through a project fish farming, 35 families begin to ‘fish’ for dreams to improve their quality of life.

The project is developed through the Association of Artisanal Fishermen of La Jagua de Ibirico, Apetosca, made up of about 150 people who have been working for their dreams for more than seven years, and today have the support of the mining company Prodeco in the framework of social and environmental compensation actions in its area of ​​influence.

FROM FRY SOWING TO FISHING

Of the 19 hectares that make up the La Estrella farm, one and a half are dedicated to the fish farming project that consists of planting fingerlings for raising tilapia, whose final product is marketed, generating a chain of benefits whose links are strengthened by the same community. .

In the area there are two east ponds and two on land. The process begins with the planting in appropriate tanks of around 17 thousand fingerlings, which in two months go to the land pond for breeding and fattening in four months.

“It is a job that we have been doing for many years in an artisanal way and today thanks to this initiative, we managed to modernize the process that led to the first catch of approximately 16,300 fresh tilapia,” explained Yhon Delgado García, operator and partner of Apetosca.

The planting cycle is every month and the result of each process is species weighing more than 350 grams that are then marketed in Barranquilla and the local market.

José Donoso, Project Director of Proagroambiente, reiterated that it is a staggered cultivation of fresh tilapia for sale. The fry are from one gram to approximately and in the first fishing a pond of six tons per productive unit was intervened, which then passes through the process of gutting and bringing it to sale.

Another of the architects of this initiative is Víctor Ávila, legal representative of Apetosca, who stated that since 14 years ago when the association was created, there have been many ups and downs to achieve this great dream. “We thank God for this blessing that reaches 36 low-income families, in addition to the support of the Prodeco company through technical, financial and supplier advice on the land where the project is developed,” he stated.

It is important to note that in these same spaces Apetosca undertakes an alternative planting project, as a complement to generate cash flow for the association. Six lots of corn were planted in which 2,000 ears and eight tons of corn silage were collected, which are being marketed in the area, explained Bedel Rincones, agricultural technician.

COLLECTIVE BENEFIT

Obdulia Ovalle, Entrepreneurship Coordinator of the Prodeco Group, stated that the municipality of La Jagua de Ibirico, more than coal, is a territory with benefits from another economic line.

The company is currently developing six high-impact projects, managing to materialize the second, which is fish farming to benefit family groups that aim to reconvert production in the territory.

“Not only is it an infrastructure that was delivered, technical and socio-business support is being offered to these associations in two years, after we leave the territory, they can have the capacity to operate from the technical, administrative, commercial and financial perspectives and can be references in the territory. “It is a sustainable social project that benefits a community and that will always be in the territory to benefit the communities,” he explained.

He reiterated that they are not creating companies that generate profits for individuals, but for non-profit entities, that is, the associations receive the project and are aware that in order to sustain it they must demonstrate that they are generating a collective benefit.

Associations were received that have unsatisfied states of basic need in poverty, and with them they must demonstrate that they meet these needs.

Another aspect that was taken into account when the fish farming project was devised is the high energy consumption, which on many occasions has caused important projects to fail.

For this reason, we worked with the variable of solar panels, which were installed in an area with high radiation and it was possible to reduce energy consumption by 40% throughout the project, a way to make sustainable what has been achieved until now. .

Ovelio Jiménez, mayor of the municipality of La Jagua de Ibirico, said it is a model project in fish farming matters in the region

Work has been going on since the previous administration, through an alliance with the company Prodeco and the Apetosca association, in which the municipality makes a contribution of 432 million pesos.

The long-term goal is to guarantee that La Jagua de Ibirico becomes the region’s pantry, to reinforce livestock, coffee and other initiatives, with the fish farming project. A company was created generating employment and they are using their knowledge in a trade that they had been practicing in an artisanal way.

In the first fishing effort, they obtained resources exceeding 70 million pesos, a result that reflects the social and economic benefit for 36 family members who believe in the productive reconversion and the potential of the municipality.

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