BRIN develops incubator to accelerate tilapia breeding

The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) has developed a tube-shaped incubation device for tilapia eggs made from local materials to increase productivity more efficiently. “This incubator functions to shorten the egg incubation period by the female broodstock. With this tool, tilapia eggs can hatch in less than seven days. Thus, the frequency of gonad maturation and subsequent spawning in the broodstock can be accelerated,” said Mohamad Soleh, a researcher at BRIN’s Applied Zoology Research Centre, in a statement in Jakarta on Wednesday. Soleh explained that increasing seed productivity is an important step to support the development of tilapia farming, which has significant prospects. The high demand for tilapia needs to be matched by increased seed productivity. These reproductive characteristics form the basis for developing artificial hatching technology to improve seed production efficiency. According to Soleh, the advantages of this tube-shaped incubator include its ability to hold eggs in mass quantities, a high egg hatching rate, more uniform larval sizes, ease of harvesting, practical and efficient operation, and optimally manageable hatching media conditions. “The success of this egg incubation technology still relies on the precision of the fish breeder. The accuracy of selection at the level of fertilised eggs by observing eggs that have turned brownish-yellow is one of the main determining factors for achieving a high hatching rate. A high egg hatching rate and uniform larval size will be the key to boosting national seed productivity,” said Soleh. He revealed the necessity of using ‘all male’ or male fingerlings for farming businesses. The use of these male fingerlings is expected to increase farming production yields and generate greater profits. The production of male fingerlings is carried out through periodic high-temperature treatment (thermal shock) starting from newly hatched larvae until the larval stage begins to swim, followed by rearing the fry until they reach a size ready for stocking in farming ponds. Soleh mentioned that tilapia farming is supported by the vast potential of farming land, established farming technology, readily available fingerlings, and the ability to adapt to water quality fluctuations. In addition, the harvest cycle is relatively short, around 4–6 months, with a low to moderate business risk level, and is suitable for development from small-scale to industrial levels. “This tilapia farming business is quite competitive when compared to other fish commodities such as gourami, carp, tawes, and nilem. The selling price can reach Rp30,000 per kilogram, the market demand is open, and profit can reach 20-40 percent, making this business quite promising. Likewise, the relatively short farming period can help accelerate capital turnover,” said Mohamad Soleh.