Survey on the use of natural food and supplemental feed in commercial milkfish farms on Panay, Philippines

Publication Type

Contribution to conference

Authors

Lückstädt,C.; Focken,U.; Coloso,R.; Becker,K.

Year of publication

2000

Published in

Book of Abstracts and Proceedings on CD-ROM of "Deutscher Tropentag 2000"

Editor

Tropenzentrum, University of Hohenheim

Page (from - to)

229-230

Conference name

<IMG Src="/~www480/webbug.php" Width=1 Height=1 Alt="">Deutscher Tropentag 2000: International Agricultural Research &#150; A Contribution to Crisis Prevention

Conference location

Hohenheim, Germany

Conference date

11.-12.10.2000

Keywords

aquaculture, feeding behaviour, milkfish, Südost Asien

This study evaluated the feed intake of the milkfish (Chanos chanos Forsskål) in commercial brackishwater ponds under different management regimes. Feed intake and growth were compared between a rather intensive culture management in a fish farm of 1 ha pond size and a semi-intensive one, with a total pond area of 30 ha. The data suggested a direct consumption of only 12 % of the supplemental feed in the intensive farm, leading to a wastage of high quality fish feed and a significantly lower specific and metabolic growth rate (P < 0.001) than in the semi-intensive system without any supplementation and only relying on abundant natural food through fertilization. These results suggest that a heavy reduction in, or even the abandonment of the use of, supplemental feed for milkfish culture would be more cost-effective.