WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • JUNE 2017 65 (CONTINUED ON PAGE 66) Problems Feeding Fish The high cost of feed ingredients and commercial feed available in local markets deters farmers from feeding fish with good-quality feed on a regular basis. Commercial feed in local markets usually costs around US$ 0.60-0.80/kg, which is quite unaffordable for small-scale farmers. Additional costs associated with importation of feed ingredients from the mainland increases cost of locally made feed. For example, groundnut oil cake imported from India costs three times as much as on the mainland. As a result, many farmers are not feeding fish, only stocking seed. Other farmers follow improper feeding practices that hinder farm productivity, usually feeding fish weekly or monthly. Most farmers apply the traditionally used mixture of rice bran and Freshwater fish are in great demand in Andaman and Nicobar Islands but the low productivity of pond aquaculture leads to a supply shortfall. To meet consumer demand, around 0.5-1 t of freshwater fishes per day are imported from mainland India (West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh states). This results in high market prices for fish, such as US$ 5-6/kg for catla sold in local markets. The farmers of Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI) have been practicing aquaculture since the early settlement period. There are about 2248 fish ponds in ANI covering about 114 ha, mostly for production of Indian major carps, catfishes and freshwater prawns (Dam Roy et al. 2015). On average, annual pond productivity is only around 200-250 kg/ha. This immense lag in production can be attributed to improper pond management and feeding practices followed by farmers. Developing Low-Cost Fish Feeds in Andaman and Nicobar Islands T. Sivaramakrishnan, Baby Shalini, K. Saravanan, R. Kiruba Sankar, Benny Varghese and S. Dam Roy FIGURE 1. Grinding, weighing and mixing of feed ingredients.
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