What can I do to increase growth in IMC farming?

Fresh water aquaculture in India is mainly carp-based and accounts for a considerable proportion of total aquaculture production.

Feeding constitutes a major factor in fish culture since the fish obtain the maximum nutritional requirements through the food they consume.Protein forms one of the main components of fish feed and hence formulation of feeds that contain a high amount of protein using cost-effective natural ingredients is very essential to achieve efficient production from fish culture.

It was observed that the fish fed with formulated feed containing 40% protein content showed better growth results and improvement in bioenergetic parameters, compared to the other three feeds.

Aquaculture has a great role to play in the welfare of mankind. It is emerging as one of the most viable and promising enterprises for providing notional and food security for humans. Food production from agricultural resources cannot keep pace with the ever increasing human population around the globe.

The intensification of fish culture has led to dependence on artificial feeds. Protein is the most expensive component in fish feeds and also the most important factor affecting growth performance of fish and feed cost . Reducing the feeding costs could be a key factor for the successful development of aquaculture. Fish have high dietary protein requirement.

The significance of qualitative and quantitative feeds is well recognized  and the level of dietary protein is of fundamental importance, because it significantly influences growth, survival and yield of fish. Therefore, considerable research effort is needed to determine the quantity and quality of dietary protein necessary to achieve optimum growth performance of fish.

To formulate a low cost feed, ingredients from plant and animal sources are used to fulfill the protein requirement of the fish meal, fully or partially.

The inter-relationship between the dietary energy requirement and the growth of fish and the importance of proper protein nutrition has been well established. So, fish nutritionists pay greater attention to reduce the cost of artificial diets by introducing alternative protein sources from plant and animal .