An initiative in Gaza enriches farmers from Israel's feed

Raed Moussa - Gaza

The lecturer at the Islamic University of Gaza, Omar Ayesh, seeks to spread the idea of ​​adopting farmers on natural feed produced from the Azula and to reduce reliance on feed from Israel, taking advantage of his experience with his farmer friend Wael Musallam and opening the first plant in the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip.

The idea began when Omar, a 23-year-old graduate of the Biotechnology Department of the Islamic University in Gaza late last year, noticed that his friend Wael was suffering from high fodder prices and lack of profit margins, especially in the context of the deteriorating economic conditions in Gaza.

"We succeeded in avoiding errors in previous experiments that did not succeed in Gaza and we achieved a remarkable success this time and we were able to find," he said. The way the Azola plant adapts to the environment in Gaza in terms of temperature and humidity. "

Omar added that many farmers came to him and his friend to get the plant and grow it into feed to reduce the cost of high-priced commercial fodders after the success of the plantation, which began in December last year.

"Many countries rely on Azulas as fodder for fish and animals because of their high protein-rich food value and useful acids and their low cost compared to industrial commercial fodder," he said. As well as being environmentally friendly. "

Method of implantation
Omar Ayesh explains that Azulas are grown once and then multiply and are developed and increased area cultivated from the same source, and do not need large areas of agricultural or a lot of plant fertilizers or consumption of large amounts of water.

The benefits of azola, according to Omar, do not stop when used as natural aids because they are used in water purification, desalination and reuse in irrigation of specific crops and in the biological control of mosquitoes, as well as in the manure industry.

Omar and Wael succeeded in using the rapidly growing Azulas to achieve self-sufficiency in the fish and duck farms and to help other farmers cope with the problem of high commercial fodder prices from Israel and a higher rate of profit than before.

He explained that the plant Azola lives in moderate conditions and doubles in size from three to eight days, and said that the farm, which does not exceed the area of ​​300 square meters produce a daily amount ranging from 50 to 100 kg.

Omar stressed the possibility of achieving self-sufficiency after mixing Azola with other vehicles alternative to commercial feeds, noting that the feed produced using the Azola is characterized by long-term storage of up to a year without any negative change.

Wael brags about the success of the experiment by relying on 100% Azulas as food for fish, abandoning the use of commercial fodder, while siphoning off 70-80% as duck food and up to 50% as poultry food.

Wael said he has achieved a higher margin of profit using Azola as alternative natural feed, as well as achieving many other benefits in fish and animal production to contain Azola with a high protein content of up to 35%.

The Gaza Strip imports about 16,000 tons of commercial fodder every month, including concentrated and processed feeds, consisting of grains, soybean oil and maize, at a cost of 1,800 to 2,600 shekels per tonne ($ 510-737).