Abstract
Production performance of two tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) strain viz. Chitralada and GIFT (Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia) in fish-prawn polyculture system was compared, and possible effect of tilapia inclusion in freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) culture was evaluated in 120 days of grow-out phase. There were three treatments, i.e. only freshwater prawn as control (T1), prawn + Chitralada (T2), and prawn + GIFT (T3) with three replications of each. Stocking densities for prawn juvenile was 30,000 ha-1 in all the treatments and for both tilapia strains were 10,000 ha-1. Floating feed containing 28% protein for tilapia and pelleted sinking feed for prawn were provided twice daily at a rate of 10-5% bw adjusted after each month of sampling. Water transparency was significantly lower (P<0.05) in treatment T1 with significantly higher chlorophyll-? content that increased with progression of time. Along with, plankton abundance was significantly higher (P<0.05) in T1 indicating prawn-tilapia mixed culture is better than traditional single species culture of prawn in terms of water quality management. Average individual weight, final weight, survival and production of prawn did not differ significantly (P>0.05) among the treatments. In case of tilapia, average individual weight was significantly higher in Chitralada (254.22 g) than that of GIFT (201.52 g). However, survival of GIFT was significantly higher (92.50%) than that of Chitralada (65.83%). Gross and net production of tilapia did not vary significantly. It was concluded that prawn-tilapia mixed culture is advantageous over traditional mono culture regarding production augmentation, and tilapia inclusion improving water quality.J. Bangladesh Agril. Univ. 14(1): 127-134, June 2016
Highlights
Increase of productivity through a more efficient utilization of the available natural food, is the most important aspect of polyculture (Hepher and Pruginin, 1981)
We compared the growth performance of GIFT and Chitralada in freshwater prawn culture system with a view to finding better performed strain, and simultaneously, we evaluated the effect of tilapia addition on prawn production performance
Prawn with GIFT and Prawn with Chitralada were stocked as treatment T1, T2 and T3, respectively
Summary
Increase of productivity through a more efficient utilization of the available natural food, is the most important aspect of polyculture (Hepher and Pruginin, 1981). Polyculture is the art of growing two or more compatible aquatic species with different feeding habits of spatial distribution together in a single waterbody (Zimmermann and New, 2000). Combination of species that have different feeding niches increase overall production without a corresponding increase in the quantity of supplemental feed (Zimmermann and New, 2000). Polyculture of tilapia (Orechromis nilotica) in prawn pond is one of the most important techniques and can be a source of extra income for the poor fish farmers. Culture of prawn with fish improves the ecological balance of the pond water, preventing the formation of massive algal blooms (Cohen et al, 1983; Uddin et al, 2006)
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