Effect of different feeding rates on the growth performance of Jayanti rohu fish reared under Bhutanese condition

Abstract

A study was conducted to investigate the growth performance of Jayanti rohu fish fed with commercially produced sinking pellet at different feeding rate over a period of six months.  The experiment consisted of three treatments (T1, T2 and T3) with feeding rate of 1%, 1.5% and 2% of the body weight respectively. The production performance of Jayanti rohu was conducted in an earthen pond with the dimensions of 270 m² x 1.5 metre depth. A total of 130 random samples were weighed and measured to record the morphometric indices on a monthly basis. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 23.0. Bonferroni post hoc multiple comparisons tests was run to determine the significant differences among the means of treatment group.  The highest growth of 416.08 ± 130.64 g with 95.83% was recorded for T2, fed at the rate of 1.5% body weight. Besides, a unit area (m²) fish production was significantly higher in T₂ (0.62 kg) when compared to other treatments. Thus, feeding rate of 1.5% of the body weight may be recommended for Jayanti rohu when reared under sub-tropical climatic condition of Bhutan. However, in-depth station and on-farm participatory evaluation of this feeding regime with more replicates is suggested to draw better inferences and for wider application.