Although not as bright as before (before the Covid 19 pandemic, ed), the patin seed nursery business can be said to still exist today. The patin seed nursery business is in great demand by the public, because breeders can buy the seeds from a number of freshwater fisheries aquaculture centers starting from a size of ¾ inch (21 days).
From these seeds, they are then nursed in nursery ponds until they are 3-6 inches (1-2 months). Furthermore, the patin seeds are sold to farmers (culture, ed) at a price of IDR 600 per head.
Not only stopping at the nursery segment, patin breeders generally also carry out rearing for a longer period, between 8 months-1 year. “If the nursery time is short, at most 2-3 months. Although the time is short, this business is quite profitable. Meanwhile, for enlargement it takes 8 months-1 year (depending on the quality of the seeds, ed),” said one of the patin seed nurseries, H Hopipudin, in Jakarta, recently.
According to him, although market demand is not as busy as before Covid 19, the patin seed nursery business is still able to reap profits of around IDR 12 million/month. Given, the current demand for patin seeds is around 10 thousand-20 thousand per month. “Previously, the demand was up to millions of tails per month. Currently, it is only hundreds of thousands per month,” he said.
Before the pandemic, the demand for patin seeds was very high. Buyers came from Lampung, Palembang and several other areas in Sumatra. Currently, demand from Sumatra is rare. This is because many people in Lampung, Palembang and several areas in Sumatra have their own hatcheries.
