Abstract:

The growth performance of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) was evaluated by the individual as well as collective applications of organic fertilizers and supplementary feed. The objective was to (1) to obtain an integrated view on the effect of pond ecosystem of monoculture of common carp and artificial feed and (2) to investigate the contribution of organic manure to fish production when combined with artificial feed. The cow dung was used as organic fertilizer and standard diet containing 30% protein formulated from corn gluten meal (30% CP), sunflower meal (35% CP) and rice polish (10% CP) was used as supplementary feed. There were three treatments and a control. Control (T0) group did not receive any cow dung while treatment 1(T1) received cow dung only, treatment 2 (T2) supplementary feed alone and treatment 3 (T3) received both cow dung and supplementary feed. The fertilization was done on weekly basis @ 0.10g N/100g and supplementary feed was offered @ of 2% of wet fish body weight daily. Overall average weight gain in T0, T1, T2 and T3 was 273.3±6.26, 406.8±4.51, 443.2±2.78 and 482.3±3.80g, respectively. Net fish production was 429.46, 647.09, 706.98 and 775.87kg ha-1 yr-1. Treatment 3 (T3) (combination of organic fertilizers and supplementary feed) displayed maximum growth and then T2, T1 and T0 ranked in the decreasing order respectively.

Key Words: Cow dung, supplementary feed, fish growth, common carp

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