Dear stakeholders, I take this opportunity to welcome you to the Aquaculture Research & Development Center(ARDC) website. Here you will get an opportunity to engage with the ARDC community and know the various activities that take place at the Center, which is home to the Aquaculture and Fish Biosciences programme.The Center is located in Kajjansi, 12 km from Kampala along the Entebbe road, and 1.5km off the main road. The center sits on more than 45 acres of land. Established in 1953 as a Fish Experimental Station, ARDC has today transformed into a research and Development Centre for Aquaculture Research in Uganda,and beyond. ARDC anchors a broad array of research disciplines including Fish Genetic Improvement and Seed Multiplication, Production Systems Design and Management, Fish Feed Development and Broodstock Management, Aquatic Animal Health and Biosafety Management, as well as Socio-Economic and Value Addition Research. These research disciplines focus on providing technologies geared towards improving the aquaculture sector in Uganda and the region. ARDC manifests as an aquaculture research hub in the region and also provides technical advice and capacity building to various stakeholders including research institutes, non-governmental organizations, commercial farmers, farmer groups and communities, fish feed producers, fish buyers, government lead agencies, policymakers, and other private aquaculture entrepreneurs.
ARDC operates under the National Fisheries Resources Research Institute (NaFIRRI), within the National Agricultural Research Organization’s (NARO) management structures guided by NARO’s strategic plan. The institution collaborates with many stakeholders including international development partners such as FAO, CGIAR centres, GIZ, USAID, etc., and Universities inter alia
The Center operates with in the National Agricultural Research Organization’s (NARO)management structures guided by NARO’s strategic plan. With a dedicated and competent human resource,ARDC’s focus is to fulfill NaFIRRI’s mandate. The Center is equipped with research facilities such as laboratories, ponds, outdoor concrete tanks and indoor hatcheries. It also has hostels,training rooms and a library, which makes it a convenient training hub in best aquaculture management practices.
ARDC implements its mandate with a dedicated, highly experienced, and competent human resource, and the institution has a state-of-the-art research infrastructure such as laboratories, ponds, outdoor concrete tanks, and indoor hatcheries. It also has hostels, training rooms, and a library, which make it a convenient training hub for best aquaculture management practices.
ARDC researches various economically important freshwater fish species including Tilapiines (mainly Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus ), African catfish ( Clarias gariepinus), Mirror carp ( Cyprinus carpio), Grass carp, Ripon barbel ( Labeobarbus altianalis), Ningu ( Labeo victorianus), Lungfish ( Protopterus aethiopicus), Nile perch ( Lates niloticus), Semutundu ( Bagrus docmak), Elephant-snout fish ( Mormyrus kannume), among others. ARDC also researches fish feeds and nutrition and in this context has a feed mill with the capacity to produce two (2) tons of sinking and one ton of floating feed pellets per hour. In addition, ARDC researches the live feeds with emphasis on Moina, Copepods, and Artemia. These, alongside the fish seed production facilities that can produce more than seventeen million fish fry per production cycle, ARDC is a one-stop Centre for two of the most important aquaculture inputs (feed and seed). Over the years, ARDC has developed different technologies, skilled many farmers and technicians in different aquaculture practices, and supplied feed and seed to several farmers thereby contributing immensely to Uganda’s fish production. Through interactions with different development partners and with support from the Government of Uganda, ARDC is destined to grow into a Centre of Excellency for aquaculture research in East Africa.
You are welcome to ARDC and we are always eager to interface with you.
Papius Dias Mugarura Tibihika (PhD) – Head of Aquaculture Research & Development Centre