Journal of Animal Feed Science and Technology

 This paper attempts to explore the cost and earning analysis of ice plant of fishery industry of Ratnagiri. Cost and earning analysis of any business gives an idea about the economic feasibility. Considering vast differences in the production capacities of ice plants, costs and earning analysis was performed separately for the two categories of ice plants, first with less than 50 tonne and second with more than 50 tonne capacity. The net profit earned by less than 50 tonne capacity ice plant was much more less than that of more than 50 tonne capacity. All the economic indicators estimated clearly showed that the more than 50 tonne capacity ice plants were more profitable than that of less than 50 tonne capacity ice plants.

 Biotechnology has immense potential in enhancing animal nutrition, heath-status and productivity. One of such application of biotechnology in aquaculture is probiotics. Probiotics are micro-organisms that are beneficial to host in improving its health, digestive enzyme activity, immunity and nutrition. Probiotics may be administered to fish as a food supplement or as a water additive. These may prove as a boon to aquaculture as these not only improve heath of animal but are also helpful in bioremediation of water, and are eco-friendly. These also compete with the pathogenic bacteria; decrease their virulence, hence, limiting the use of antibiotics. The present review paper highlights the application of probiotics in aquaculture. It also summarizes the development and research highlights of the probiotic status and mode of action, which are of great significance from an eco-friendly and sustainable aquaculture point of view.

 An experimental study was conducted to observe the efficacy of different supplementary formulated diets on growth of Heteropneustes fossilis in terms of length-weight relationship and condition factor for 150 days. Four diets (Control - D1; Experimental - D2 - D4) were prepared by using plant protein sources i.e. soybean meal and groundnut meal in addition to traditional feed components i.e. rice bran and mustard meal of control diet. Significantly higher (p<0.05) average final body weight (23.92g) and specific growth rate (0.66) was recorded with diet D2 having major contribution from the soybean meal (24% rice bran, 24% mustard cake, 50% soybean meal). Maximum value of exponential ‘b’ (2.73), correlation coefficient ‘r’ (0.8510) and condition factor ‘K’ (0.67) in the diet D2 further showed the positive effect of soybean meal on fish growth. However, the range of exponential ‘b’ from 1.99 to 2.73 and condition factor ‘K’ from 0.59 - 0.67 in all the diets indicate robustness or well being of fish throughout the study period. Thus, the results of the study showed the acceptability of soybean meal by H. fossilis in terms of higher growth and condition factor.

 The nutrients occur in the reservoir, however, majority as well as increased quantity of the nutrient elements get stacked in the hypolimnion zone of the reservoir. With a view to know the status of various nutrients in the epilimnion zone of reservoir, some elements such as phosphate-phosphorus (PO4-P), nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), potassium (K) and sodium (Na) were analyzed on monthly basis after collection of water in 2.5litre polyethylene bottle from epilimnion zone of a small reservoir (Chohal) during December 2000 to November 2001 in Punjab. The nutrient parameters show considerable monthly and seasonal variation, which is also linked to the hydrological cycle. There were sharp changes observed in the seasonality of nutrient content in Chohal water as recorded after analyses. The maximum average monthly value of PO4-P and Na was observed during summer whereas Ca and Mg in monsoon. The maximum average value of NO3-N and K was recorded during winter season. The average monthly minimum value of PO4-P, K and Na was recorded during monsoon whereas Mg in winter season. The value of NO3-N and Ca was found to be minimum during summer. The overall range of NO3-N was recorded from traces to 1.774 mg/l whereas other nutrient contents such as PO4-P fluctuated from traces to 0.527 mg/l, Ca (9.0 to 15.9 mg/l ), Mg (3.43 to 26.49 mg/l), K (2.1 to 7.8 mg/l), and Na (6.6 to 37.5 mg/l)  in Chohal reservoir. The findings revealed that the circulation of nutrient occurs in the epilimnion zone of the reservoir and the nutrient content varies season to season, however, the nutrients are important determinants of biogenic productivity of the reservoir. 

 Liza parsia fry were trained on dry feed, were kept in pond cages and fed with 4, 6, 8 and 10% of their actual body weight. The effect of the daily ration on the growth, survival, condition factor, feed conversion and body composition were observed until fry nursed in cages reached one gram. The appropriate daily ration of 6% of body weight seemed to be advisable for the practices as it achieved the highest average length of 4.46cm, average weight of 1.03g and SGRof 7.03%day-1. There was no significant difference between the conditional factors or survivals of the groups. The best feed conversion (FCR) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) was achieved at the 6% daily ration group and the worst at 10% group in every week of the experiment.

 This study aimed to evaluate the protein requirements of Clarias batrachus fry, were estimated by feeding isocaloric diets. The influence of dietary protein level on weight gain, survival, food utilization and body composition were estimated. The Asian catfish, C. batrachus fry were fed four diets containing 25% (diet 1), 30% (diet 2), 35% (diet 3) and 40% (diet 4) protein levels and 3580 kcal kg-1 of energy level for 30 days. Fry fed with diet 3 containing 35% protein showed the highest final body weight, survival, specific growth rate and protein efficiency ratio and were significantly (P < 0.05) affected by dietary treatments. C. batrachus fry raised at 25% protein (diet 1) had higher apparent feed conversion ratio (AFCR) (1.30±0.13) than 35% dietary protein level (0.63±0.07). Higher protein efficiency ratio (4.52±0.4) observed at higher protein level (35%) than 25% protein level (3.08±0.6). Body lipid and ash content observed to have been influenced (P < 0.05) by diets with increasing protein level. Further, crude protein was not affected (P > 0.05) with increase in dietary protein level. The study concluded that the diet 3 containing 35% protein was optimal for growth of C. batrachus fry.

 In a completely randomized design, 5 experimental diets (T1 to T5) were fed to 5 groups of animals with 6 animals (35 kg ± 1.3 body wt.) in each group. The diets were supplemented with or without herbal residues (turmeric, amla, ginger) and enzyme cocktail (xylanase, b-glucanase, cellulase and phytase). Thus the five diets were a standard diet (T1), economic diet with enzyme cocktail but without herbal residue (T2), T2 with turmeric residue (T3), T2 with amla residue (T4) and T2 with ginger residue (T5). After assessing the sensitivity of the individual herbal residue to inhibit the bacterial growth, Ginger residue exhibited the maximum (P<0.05) inhibition of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella typhimurium than amla while the inhibition of turmeric was comparable with ginger and amla. It was shown that the maximum inhibition of all pathogenic bacteria was at 2 per cent level. The total viable count (CFU/gm) was significantly higher (P<0.01) in T1 or T2 than in T3, T4 or T5 fed pigs. Feeding diets containing herbal residues (T3 to T5) reduced (P<0.01) the Coliform, Staphylococci and Salmonella count. It can be concluded that herbal residues when included in the pig diets at 2% level were able to inhibit the growth of pathogens in the gut and thereby reducing the competition by the microbes for the nutrients leading to a better utilization and performance.