Manong Bello is a 2003 Gawad Saka Awardee as the Department of Agriculture’s "Most Outstanding Fisherman" (Fish Culture) for his initiatives and big achievement in fish business.
His interest in fish culture grew out of his job as a driver for a fish dealer. Later he turned into the business of dried fish and fresh fish trading in the Bukidnon-Cotabato area.
After gaining some basic knowledge on fish farming and with a start-up capital of P3,000, he raised African hito (catfish) and red and black tilapia in a 5 meters x 5 meters pond with a depth of 1.3 meters. After three months he earned P7,475 from a harvest of 115 kilos at a minimum price of P65 per kilo.
Inspired with the modest success of his initial venture, he looked forward to learning more expertise in the field with appropriate technology. He attended the "Training Course on Catfish Culture and Breeding" conducted by the local government of Valencia, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Region 10 and BFAR-FTC Davao del Norte.
After some time, practice made him perfect on his endeavor. He gets skillful in the techniques of breeder selection, spawn induction and egg hatching for fries and their survival in the pond. A single hito breeder gave him 20,000 eggs from which he realized P40,000 for the sale of 25-day old fingerlings with a selling price of P2 per fingerling.
Abello’s hito hatchery and nursery business netted him P94,870 proceeds in the first five months. But bigger opportunities were still to come. In 2000, he achieved a return on investment (ROI) of 195 percent to the tune of P97,230. In 2001, he achieved an earning of P329,320 and in 2002, he increased his earning to P440,700 from his business.
For feeds, he grows azolla, kangkong and gabi which he boils to feed his fish. He also gives squash, corn and rice bran mixed with commercial feeds. Most of the time he collects trash fish and meat from public market to cook as feeds.
PCAMMRD executive director Dr. Rafael Guerrero taught him fish sex reversal technology – from female to male – to upgrade production. There were more to come.
He also engaged in fish cage tilapia culture. He added processing of hito and tilapia into tocino, longganisa and nuggets to his fishery enterprise.
Manong Bello is actively involved in the City Agriculture and Fishery Council, Provincial Agriculture and Fishery Council and Fishery Industry Advisory Council of Region X. For rehabilitated drug dependents he gives tilapia and hito fingerlings to be paid after harvest.
A generous man, Manong Bello shares the technologies he learned and experience of success to others wishing to engage in fish culture. On this note, he is a frequent resource speaker on nursery and grow-out ponds for tilapia and hito in Zamboanga, Bohol and Cebu.