Growth and economic analysis of freshwater prawn,Macrobrachium rosenbergii (de Man), produced with feeds substituting sunflower cake for fish meal,soya bean meal and mustard oil cake |
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| Authors: | Mohammad Mokarrom Hossain Subhash Chandra Chakraborty |
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| Affiliation: | 1. WorldFish Bangladesh and South Asia Office, Dhaka, Bangladesh;2. Department of Fisheries Technology, Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Mymensingh, Bangladesh |
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| Abstract: | A feeding trial with Macrobrachium rosenbergii was carried out to test the effectiveness of sunflower cake (SFC) as a replacement for conventional protein sources. Four isonitrogenous (~30% crude protein) and isocaloric (388–402 kcal) diets were formulated. Diet‐1 was a control made with conventional ingredients including fish meal, soya bean meal and mustard oil cake. Diet‐2, Diet‐3 and Diet‐4 were made with 30%, 40% and 50% SFC, respectively, replacing the usual protein sources used in Diet‐1. After 100 days, diets with SFC inclusion showed favourable growth and economic performance trends compared to control diet‐1, but without significant differences (p > .05). Better production (572.89 ± 62.99 kg/ha) was observed with Diet‐4 followed by Diet‐2, Diet‐3 and Diet‐1. Diet‐4 revealed the best feed conversion ratio (2.56 ± 0.24), specific growth rate (1.18 ± 0.05) and protein efficiency ratio (1.14 ± 0.10) among these diets. Whole carcass composition analysis revealed highest crude protein (18.19%) and lipid (4.43%) content in prawns fed Diet‐3 followed by Diet‐4. Highest total income, gross margin and benefit cost ratio (BCR) per hectare from prawns were US$5,759, US$2,623 and 1.84, respectively, found in Diet‐4. This study demonstrates that 30%–50% inclusion of SFC has favourable impacts on productivity and profitability compared with controls, with 50% SFC inclusion as the most cost‐effective diet for prawns without apparent compromise in growth, flesh quality or economics. The performances of the diets suggest that SFC may be a suitable substitute for fishmeal, soya bean meal and mustard oil cake in prawn feed. The effectiveness of higher SFC concentrations should also be investigated. |
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| Keywords: |
benefit cost ratio
feed conversion ratio
fish meal
Macrobrachium rosenbergii
specific growth rate
sunflower cake |
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