We tried and is running a small 50W solar panel with a small petrol generator. My estimation, basing on our requirement, cost of material, product availability, the petrol or conventional system is still more economical (excluding environmental benefits).

You'll still need to do your own feasibility study as your may turn out to be feasible as it all boils down to your specific requirement. Also solar product cost over here is higher versus cheap hardware/ small engine which are cheaper here.

Do consider about security as well. Good luck.

I'm into tilapia breeding and it's feed pellet wholesale.
If for new hybrid variety, if the color and shape vary too much. Middleman would give you plenty of reasons to lower the price. Almost all of them behave the same way.

The normal fry the cheapest I got was 7cents each. I believe can get cheaper with volume.
As for the mono sex. It's not really monosex in male, it's just chemically enhanced so that it don't really breed. But the % is about 95% so it will still breed if you don't feed them enough and after some time it will still breed but not as much as the normal ones.
This however come with a hefty price tag of 30cents each.
This speaks from our experience there we still go for the normal ones, just make sure to get the good fry.

We just feed it sufficiently so the fish focus on eating rather than breeding.

thanks for the reply. Still working on the numbers

btw, how about water supply? from what I gather, drilling a well and get the underground water is the most common way. Anyone can share any insight, ie your experience, things to consider, rules and regulation that govern (if any) such practice on this?

thanks

Dear M Century,

I think we have been in touch before regards your fish feed. I'm waiting for my partner to be back fr travelling, then should arrange an appointment with you.Thanks for the heads up on hybrid marketing issue. Guess i have to try in small batch and try to sell it with my current buyers.

The problem with the common fries, i believe there is no proper control over in-breeding. Unless you know the breeder well, and tested their fries before.
The last batch my partner bought, (somewhere in rawang) exceeded 8 months. Hope you can give me the contact of current breeder your taking from.
And as for the 30cent hybrid, do you any idea whom is dealing it? I wanna check possibility of getting brood stock.

If your requirement is not heavy and you have a structure with roof, you may want to consider harvesting rain water. It may be the cheapest. We erect small sheds in our farm to harvest rain water. It's very low on maintenance.

I would like to adda qualifier here: Rain water harvesting works if your area has good average rainfall. What I mean is not total rainfall, i.e. total rainfall each year, but the monthly rainfall spread over the year. You can get this data from the local DOA or meterological department.

Having this data is also good for the farmer, because you can then plan and expect when you will need water to irrigate your crops the most. Thus, you can do rainwater collection, or temporary weir construction before any dry spell. The obverse is also true, i.e. you can anticipate high rainfall seasons, and prepare proper drainage in time.

As for alternative/renewable energy resources, there are many options. You can actually google for them, or look up youtube for guided lessons on building your own wind turbine/solar furnace/hydroelectic generator etc. I've even come across one that uses the temperature differences between two materials to generate electrical pulses.

The one I am particularly interested right now is the so called "perpetual energy generator". Although it is not entirely right to call it "perpetual energy", the fact is that this generator does not burn fuel, does not require direct energy, and is about 94% efficient in converting potential energy into electricity. A lot of physicist and pseudo-physicist are saying this generator is farce, but there are equally as many who've build similar generators that actually work. Unfortunately, none have been made to sizes large enough to power entire villages or cities; one was built in Germany though, and it powered a house.

Also, Nicola Tesla was known to build fantastical machines that scientist used to say could never work.

Sorry, I should also explain why I said rainwater harvesting works with good average rainfall.

Put simply, the average small farm is limited by space. There's only so much space that you can allocate for structures (including shedhouse, water tanks, etc.). So to store large quantities of water will mean sacrificing space which could otherwise be used for growing crops/livestock etc. By knowing how much water is required each month for your farm, and averaging it out to how many months of dryspell to anticipate (adding a little more for unexpected events), you could build the right storage facility to accomodate the need.

Now in places with a good average monthly rainfall pattern, the amount of water required to be stored will be correspondingly lower, i.e. just need to top-up for the shortage. Therefore, your water storage facility will take up less space, which you can better use for other things.

For places with not-so-good rainfall patterns (and there are many in Malaysia), you might need to adjust your cropping patterns to accomodate this. Or you might need to choose an entirely different crop altogether. Eg., some places in central Malaysia have very high rainfalls in the early part of the year, and later parts of the year (about 300-500mm); the months in between have very low rainfall (150mm or less).

The website from the Met Department below is useful: http://www.met.gov.my/index.php?option=com...47&lang=english

Hi MJ,

thanks for the reply, however, don't think harvesting rain water will work for me, I'm planning to do fertigation, constant supply of water is very important, but thanks a lot for your suggestion

Anyone can help to shed some light on the well drilling part?

thanks

another question, how do you guys keep track of your crop's price, especially those vege and fruits that changes daily/weekly?

I did survey the price at pasar pagi at my place, however, was told that the price could be vary a lot throughout the year. so, I was wondering if there is anyway I can find out the historical price of fruits or vege from anywhere?

thanks

AD19BK:

Sure there is. FAMA has a weekly, monthly, yearly pricing, which is arranged by farmgate, wholesale, and average retail, and separated by state.

http://sdvi.fama.net.my/ireport/hargasegar...iturunnaik/form

This post has been edited by Michael J.: Jan 26 2013, 06:20 PM

Sorry, I just realized the link earlier was a little difficult to navigate. The direct link has been changed as above, and easier to input for information.



This post has been edited by Michael J.: Jan 26 2013, 06:22 PM

thanks for the link, its very helpfule

did you check the price before? is it accurate? I check a few just now, compare some of the vege prices, it varies a lot from what I heard. For example, I was told that the kangkong price now at farm gate is < RM1, but the website says its about RM1.50. Any idea why the huge differences, or may be I heard it wrong?

thanks

AD19BK:

I've checked the prices for some items, not all. And yes, there is quite a bit of variation. But it is useful nonetheless, as a general guide.

I cannot vouche for the way DOA or FAMA compiles its data, but what you need to realise is that at best, the figures provided are averages.

Eg. kangkung in Selangor is RM1.10 average lowest farmgate price, but the national average is RM1.35 per kg. In Sabah, the average lowest farmgate price is RM1.80 per kg. The local variation is only for selected locations, and you can find it under the tab "Pusat".

Do note that all the statistics shows is collectively, how much to expect for your crop. The best price you can get is up to your negotiation skills with the middleman.

That, of course, brings to topic the matter of the middleman. Now, I don't deny the valuable services provided by the middleman, and truthfully, in some places, they are a necessity. However, there are always some bad apples that ruin the reputation of the good ones by forcing down prices ruthlessly at the farmgate. This is especially the case when nearly all farming communities is a given region is planting the same crop, and there is an over-supply (perceived or otherwise).

I should note: The "Pusat" tab doesn't give data for most crops. So again, how DOA/FAMA gets their data, is beyond me.

I was at the wholesale market on Saturday, sending my harvest. As I was too early, went to walk about checking out the other stalls and chatting them up. Met 2 gentlemen, pens and a form with all the names of fruits & vegetables. They go from stall to stall, asking how much, wrote down on their form and proceed to the next one.

Lots of question came up on my mind on the accuracy of the "price". Still, it's a good guide, if you don't know where to start.

Would also like to point out that pricing is not the only factor, as with any other business, there are lots of other factors to consider.

You should take your time slowly and prepare before going into aquaculture
I don't buy fries just because the previous batch I have good experience or who and who said that the particular breeder good reputation. I inspect the fries myself. I believe in my own eyes and instinct.
As for your last batch 8 months. Reason why it took that long may not exactly problem is the fries. Can be other reason or reasons.
Quite many breeders sell the hybrid. I personally felt it's unnecessary as long as you feed well and manage well because Tilapia is still an economical fish, not those of high value fish. However many of my clients prefer hybrid.
You can contact me if you interested where to get those fries.

Totally agree that this serve as a good guide and good starting point, of course there are other variables to be taken into account as well. What my friends told me is that always have a few middleman, so that you can cross check and have a better estimate on what's market price.

By the way, may I know if anyone here planting kailan or other vegetables?

thanks

Hi, I've jumped onto the wagon almost the same time, earlier research has found these 2 suppliers for GIFT/monosex: SQB Agrotech in Kuantan (bank in $ 1 wk prior to collection) & Southern Blue Sea in Thailand (can do COD in Ipoh, have to wait/tumpang his bulk order if want to save cost/our order is small, supplied to Hulu Langat before as he's from Langat).

Please note I have not dealt with them, just thought I'd share the info, we were going to order from SQB but then came across a one-off good deal for normal tilapia fries. So we KIV GIFT/monosex for future.

This post has been edited by celicacultus: Feb 4 2013, 11:14 AM

Going home for the CNY celebration. Happy Chinese New Year.