Mighty Corporation Donates Tobacco Dusts to Fish Pond Operators

Local cigarette manufacturer Mighty Corporation or Mighty Corp said it will donate tobacco dust, an organic fish pond conditioner alternative, to help millions of Filipino fish pond owners and increase the income of tobacco farmers in the Philippines.

Mighty Corporation executive Vice President Oscar Barrientos said, “We are going to help the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) promote the use of tobacco dust by donating to our thousands of fish pond owners and operators all over the country.  In doing so, we are helping both tobacco farmers and fish pond owners and operators increase their yield.”

NTA was promoting tobacco dust to control the population of snails and other fish pond predators, as this was “an effective and economic option to replace highly toxic and cyanide-based chemicals used in the preparation or sterilization of fishponds.”

Tobacco dust, according to studies made by the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, promotes the growth of lablab, an algae and natural fish food, and serves as pond floor conditioner. Pond owners and operators use it to prepare or sterilize fish ponds before stocking fingerlings there.  Fish stocking is the practice of raising fish in a hatchery and releasing them into a river, lake, or the ocean to supplement existing population, or to create a population where none exists.

Barrientos said that the cigarette company aims to increase the income of the tobacco-growing industry in the country by buying 10 million tobacco leaves from local farmers all over the country. It allotted P700,000 for the purchase of green leaves.

Mighty Corporation aims to help local tobacco farmers earn more with a projected increase in the production of tobacco leaves and tobacco dust while helping pond owners and operators and the environment as well.