52 SEPTEMBER 2017 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG tilapia fingerlings typically sell for US$ 0.05-0.06 for 4-cm fish and US$ 0.08-0.09 for 5-6 cm fish. Prices depend on volume, packaging and delivery. Most tilapia are fed with pelleted diets primarily made at compressed pellet mills. The primary ingredients in tilapia feeds include soybean meal, wheat and wheat byproducts, corn and rice bran, and also include a vitamin and mineral premix. Typical formulations for nursery stages provide 40 percent crude protein and 7 percent lipid. For grow out, a typical formulation would provide 32 percent crude protein and 5 percent lipid. Major tilapia feed producers include Avanti, Growel and Godrej. Nursery rearing is practiced at grow-out farms in small dedicated ponds stocked at 50-60/m2 for one month before transfer to grow-out ponds. There are also examples of dedicated nurseries using tank- and raceway-based RAS systems stocked at 100-120/ m2. The majority of tilapia production systems are pond-based polyculture with Indian major carps. There is also interest in polyculture with marine shrimps as there are multiple reports of reduction in virulence of shrimp diseases when grown in polyculture with tilapias. The major production systems in Andhra Pradesh are in polyculture with carps while polyculture with shrimps occur in coastal Andhra Pradesh. Tamil Nadu has mostly pond culture in inland areas with carps. There is experimental polyculture production of tilapia in brackish water with marine finfishes. Grow-out ponds are stocked at 10-12 juveniles/m2. Fish are harvested at 400-600 g after five months using drag or seine nets. Tilapia in cages are harvested with hand nets. Farmers mostly harvest their own ponds, pack fish in ice and transport fish to local markets in open trucks. Markets for tilapia are all domestic. Some consumption is in the local producing villages while the balance is exported to major cities. Fish are delivered to a fish vendor who conducts the retail sale of fish. The fish vendor will pay cash for delivered fish, US$1.86/kg for 400-g fish and US$2.49/kg for 600g fish. The fish vendor will then sell these fish at US$ 2.18/kg for 400-g fish and US$ 2.80/kg for 600-g fish. Fish are virtually always marketed fresh on ice. Other than icing, there is no other value addition to the product. There are reports that larger processing operations have an interest in value addition to tilapia products for domestic and international markets. However, these large operations report that they would require larger volumes than are presently available from the existing farms. Summary and Conclusions Tilapia were first introduced to India in 1952 and there were several subsequent introductions of various species and strains. However, few if any of these attempts led to much commercial production of fish. In 2009, MPEDA developed a formalized plan to regulate the importation of new stocks and to regulate the heretofore unofficial and unorganized production and trade of tilapia. The newly imposed regulatory framework and its attendant introductions of improved strains, quarantines, biosecurity and market development have finally shown results and led to significant commercialization. The survey conducted in early 2017 provided information supporting a tilapia production estimate of 18,000 t in 2016. Future prospects are positive and in 2020 production should be close to 22,000 t. Suggestions for further improvement of tilapia production in India include further distribution of improved stocks, better formulated and floating feeds, deployment of advanced aquaculture production systems and continued quarantine and tighter biosecurity standards. Continued avoidance of misuse of antibiotics and other drugs should be encouraged. Notes Meenakshisundaram Menaga, Fisheries College and Research Institute, Ponneri Tamil Nadu Fisheries University, Ponneri 601 204, Thiruvallur District, TamilNadu, INDIA Corresponding Author: mena.fishcos@gmail.com Kevin Fitzsimmons, University of Arizona, Forbes 306, Tucson, Arizona 85719 References Chakraborty. S. B. and S. Banerjee, 2009. Culture of monosex Nile tilapia under difference traditional and non-traditional methods in India. World Journal of Fish and Marine Sciences 1(3):212-217. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). 2016. State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture. Rome, Italy. Fitzsimmons, K. and W. Watanabe. 2010. Tilapia (Family: Cichlidae) Pages 375-397 In: N.R. Le François, M. Jobling, C. Carter and P.U. Blier, editors. Finfish Aquaculture Diversification. C.A.B. International, Oxfordshire, UK Keshavanath, P., B. Gangadhar, T.J. Ramesh, A.A. van Dam, M.C.M. Beveridge and M. C. J. Verdegem. 2004. Effects of bamboo substrate and supplemental feeding on growth and production of hybrid red tilapia fingerlings (Oreochromis mossambicus × Oreochromis niloticus). Aquaculture 235:303314. Lakra, W.S., A.K. Singh and S. Ayyappan, editors. 2008. Fish Introduction in India: Status, Potential and Challenges. Narendra Publishers, New Delhi, India Singh, A. and W. Lakra. 2011. Risk and benefit assessment of alien fish species of the aquaculture and aquarium trade into India. Reviews in Aquaculture 3:3-18. Sugunan, V.V. 1995. Exotic Fishes and Their Role in Reservoir Fisheries in India. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 345. FAO, Rome, Italy. Suggestions for further improvement of tilapia production in India include further distribution of improved stocks, better formulated and floating feeds, deployment of advanced aquaculture production systems and continued quarantine and tighter biosecurity standards. Continued avoidance of misuse of antibiotics and other drugs should be encouraged.
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