THE INCREASE OF MILKFISH PRODUCTION THROUGH SEVERAL PRIORITY POND MANAGEMENT IN SIDOARJO REGENCY, EAST JAVA PROVINCE

The production of pond aquaculture is influenced by various aquaculture managements applied by the farmers. Technically, milkfish aquaculture in Sidoarjo Regency, East Java is potential to be developed; however, better understanding on several management priorities of milkfish becomes an issue to support milkfish aquaculture in this area.  This study was aimed to identify farming activities for better aquaculture management. This study was conducted by interviewing milkfish farmers under a structured questioner. The fish production was considered as dependant variable whereas independent variables consisted of 24 variables. The data were analyzed using 2-Stage Least Squares method. The results of this study indicated that the mean production of milkfish was  781,25 kg/ha/harvest. The application of chemicals (Akodan), initial application of saponin, liming, application of spice, pond water depth, refertilization, refertilization using SP36, re-liming and farming period were the 10 variables influencing milkfish pond productivity.

The regression equation presenting the pond productivity in this study is

Y =  311.905 + 40.105X₁ + 378.131X₂ - 3.907 X₃  + 2.552 X₄ - 174.961 X₅ - 7.280 X₆ +10.692X₇ - 10.133X₈ + 6.604 X₉ +5.313 X₁₀                 

Where:

Y= milkfish production (Kg/Ha/siklus)

X₁ = pond size (Ha)

X₂ = Akodan (L/Ha)

X₃ = The initial application of saponin (Kg/Ha)

X₄ = Liming (Kg/Ha)

X₅ = Spice (Kg/Ha)

X₆ = Pond water depth (cm)

X₇ = Refertilization using Urea (Kg/Ha)

X₈ = Refertilization using SP36 (Kg/Ha)

X_{9 =} Reliming (Kg/Ha)

X₁₀ = Farming period (day).