Impact of Feeding Schedule on the Growth Performances of Tilapia, Common Carp, and Rice Yield in an Integrated Rice-Fish Farming System

Md M. Billah, Md Kamal Uddin, Mohd Y. A. Samad, Mohd Z. B. Hassan, Md Parvez Anwar, Isa Talukder, Md Shahjahan and Ahmad Numery Ashfaqul Haque
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Md M. Billah: Department of Land Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia
Md Kamal Uddin: Department of Land Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia
Mohd Y. A. Samad: Department of Land Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia
Mohd Z. B. Hassan: Department of Aquaculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia
Md Parvez Anwar: Agro Innovation Laborator, Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh 2202, Bangladesh
Isa Talukder: Department of Fisheries Management, Faculty of Fisheries, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh 2202, Bangladesh
Md Shahjahan: Department of Fisheries Management, Faculty of Fisheries, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh 2202, Bangladesh
Ahmad Numery Ashfaqul Haque: Department of Land Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 20, 1-13

Abstract: Feeding frequency, among various factors, greatly influences the production costs of aquaculture. In the present investigation, the effects of feeding schedule on the growth and production of tilapia and common carp were evaluated, along with rice yield, in an integrated rice-fish culture system. The experiment comprised 11 treatments, each with three replications, and a control treatment with no fish (T0). The fish in treatments T1–T5 were fed with rice bran once per week at 09:00 for T1, two days per week at 12:00 for T2, three days per week at 15:00 for T3, four days per week at 18:00 for T4, and five days per week at 09:00 and 18:00 for T5. The fish in treatments T6–T10 were fed an artificial floating feed with the same scheduled feeding frequency as T1–T5. The highest specific growth rate (SGR) in common carp (2.4%) and tilapia (4.3%) was found in T10. Similarly, the highest weight gains of tilapia (322.7 g) and common carp (180.9 g) were observed in T10 after 75 days of culture. In terms of rice, however, the highest recorded grain, straw, and biological yields of 5.6, 6.8, and 12.3 t ha −1 , respectively, were observed for control T0. Overall, the highest net return (USD 30,051 ha − 1 ) was found in T10. There was a 1504% greater net return and 98% higher benefit–cost ratio (BCR) in T10 compared to the control (T0). Five days of feeding per week at 09:00 and 18:00 was found to be the feeding schedule that resulted in the highest economic net return of those tested.

Keywords: rice; integrated rice-fish farming; feeding frequency; growth; yield (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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