Growth Response of Catla catla Fed Processing Waste Based Diets

Abstract- A feeding trial was conducted for 90 days in outdoor circular cement cisterns to evaluate the utilization of vegetables and fruits processing wastes as feed ingredient in the diet of Catla catla fingerlings. Three different test diets were prepared by replacing clam meal with either fruit waste @10 % (T2), vegetables waste @10% (T3), combination of fruit waste (5%) and vegetable waste (5%) (T3). The basal diet without fruit or vegetable waste served as the control (C, The crude protein level of the diets was maintained at around 30%. Each diet was tested in triplicate, being fed to fishes in a set of three tanks each. The study was conducted in cement cisterns of capacity 300 l. Stocking was done with fingerlings of catla @ 6nos. / cistern. Completely randomized design was adopted for the study. Feeding was done @ 5% of the body weight once daily. The water quality parameters in the cisterns were monitored by fortnightly sampling. Fish growth was also assessed by periodic sampling, the quantity of feed given being readjusted based on the increase in weight. On termination of the study, all surviving fishes were collected and their length and weight recorded. Feed ingredients, formulated feeds and fish tissue were analysed for proximate composition employing standard methods. In the present study, best growth of catla in terms of average weight gain (29.99g), SGR (1.87), FCR (2.58) was obtained on diet T3 containing 5% fruit waste and 5% vegetables waste. Survival rate was good in all the treatments with mean survival value ranging from 83.33% to 100%. The results suggest the possibility of utilizing a combination of vegetable and fruit processing wastes in diets for catla. Further studies on the use of ensiled fruit and vegetable processing wastes in diets for catla is warranted.