INTENSIFICATION OF NILE TILAPIA (Oreochromis niloticus) PRODUCTION IN EARTHEN PONDS: (1) EFFECT OF POND AREA AND STOCKING DENSITY. | ||||
Journal of Animal and Poultry Production | ||||
Article 7, Volume 29, Issue 7, July 2004, Page 3809-3818 PDF (2.62 MB) | ||||
Document Type: Original Article | ||||
DOI: 10.21608/jappmu.2004.239289 | ||||
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Authors | ||||
A. A. Nour,1; Omnia A. Nour2 | ||||
1Dept. of Animal Production, Faculty of Agric. (Damanhour), Alexandria Univ., Egypt. | ||||
2Dept. of Agric. Economics,Faculty of Agric., Alexandria Univ.,Egypt.. | ||||
Abstract | ||||
Twenty four earthen ponds of different areas (500,1000,1500 and 2000 m2 area and 1 m depth) were used for Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) production. Tilapia fingerlings (about 26g initial body weight! fish) were stocked at 5,10 and 15 fish/m2in each earthen pond area and reared for 210 days. Fish in each pond was fed on a commercial complete diet containing 30% crude protein, 2 times daily at feeding rates of 6,5,4,3 and 2.5% of fish biomass during t", 2nd,3rd and 4th and thereafter months respectively. The obtained results showed that growth performance, survival rate and total yield/feddan significantly (P<0.05) decreased with increasing pond area from 500 m2 to 2000 m2. Under each tested pond area, it was noted a significant (P<0.05) decrease in growth performance and survival rate due to the increase in the stocking density from 5 to 15 fish/m2. Fish yield/feddan increased significantly (P<0.05) with increasing the stocking density from 5 to 15 fish/m2. Feed and protein utilization improved with fish reared in small pond area (500m2) than larger pond areas(1000,1500 and 2000 m2). Also, increasing the stocking density from 5 to 15 fishlm2 resulted in lower feed and protein utilization by tilapia fingerlings. Economical evaluation of the obtained results showed that the small pond area (500m2) with high stocking rate 15 fish/m2 achieved higher income (101430 LEI feddan) and higher profit (19044 LE/feddan). However, the economic evaluation results showed that the optimum economical condition among the 12 tested treatments was the 2nd treatment (500m2 pond and 10 fish/m2). From the above mentained results it could be concluded that small earthen pond ares (500m2) and high stocking density (15 fish/m2) with O. niloticus fingerlings are recommended for higher yield and income. Nevertheless, the % income Icost was infavour of 10 fish 1m2 along with 500 m2 ponds. | ||||
Keywords | ||||
Ponds; Nile tilapia; Stocking density; Performance; Economics | ||||
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