Establishing and sustaining an Asia-Pacific Feed R&D Network
2006
Pedro B. Bueno
An Asian Fish Nutrition Research Network was established under the Asian Fisheries Society, with support from a development assistance agency, and functioned very well for more than 8 years from the mid 80s to early 90s. Its founder explained that one reason for its inability to continue was that it was absolutely necessary for feed and nutrition research to respond to the numerous and different issues that relate to species, location, farming systems, productionsystems, and socio-economic contexts, and the network was unable to do so (De Silva 2002).One of the many likely reasons for the slow response to production needs was attributed to its membership, which comprised mainly of researchers in universities and R&D institutions. Nonetheless, the pioneering achievements of the Asian Fish Nutrition Research Network, that included an exemplary on-farm research involving aqua-farmers, showed that a network on feed and nutrition R&D can work and is worth revisiting.Recent forums where suggestions to again establish a regional network on feed and nutrition, this time with a broader membership, include the AquaBusiness Conference 2002 in Langkawi and the ASEM Aqua-Challenge Workshop 2002 in Beijing. A "broader membership" essentially means a network comprising researchers, technologists, feed millers and suppliers, farmers, planners and regulators.The arguments for having a network, apart from the fact that it is needed, are bolstered by the perception that the new information technology would make it function more efficiently and economically. While information technology does not guarantee cooperation, it would improve a network's ability to rapidly and effectively respond to the increasingly complex and emerging issues faced by the sector, such as those that relate to trace-ability and food safety and also to the trade of awuaculture products in general.
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Эту запись предоставил Universiti Putra Malaysia