DAGUPAN City has been chosen as the field testing site for a solar-powered aerator designed in Japan that could cut the power cost of fishpond farmers.

Similar trials will also be undertaken in the western part of Pangasinan, either in Sual or Bolinao, next year.

The project is sponsored by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the Dagupan-based National Integrated Technology Research  Center (NIFTDC).

Dr. Westly Rosario, NIFTDC chief, said if the solar-powered aerator proves to be  effective in the field tests, the Japanese company that developed the proto-type will manufacture the product in the Philippines.

An aerator, Rosario explained, is an essential device in fish ponds and fish cages to generate dissolved oxygen in the water when it is low and could result to fishkill.

Conventional aerators run on electric or battery energy.

The solar-powered aerator, on the other hand, will utilize the energy from the sun  through solar panels that will be positioned in the middle of a fishpond or fish cage .

Rosario said the device will be a big boon to bangus producers because aside from saving energy cost, fishpond owners will more easily be able to avoid the occurrence of fishkills.

JICA chose Dagupan and Pangasinan for the field testing being the biggest producers of milkfish throughout the country.

The device is now being assembled at NIFTDC and is expected to be operational by the first week of January.

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