EVALUATION OF FERMENTED CASSAVA Manihot esculenta PEEL MEAL ON THE GROWTH OF Clarias gariepinus
An experiment was conducted to evaluate the impact of cassava (Manihot esculenta, (NR 8082) peel, fermented with wastewater from the fermented cassava pulp, as a substitute for maize in the diet of C. gariepinus juveniles on the growth performance of C. gariepinus. Five iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous diets were formulated containing 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% maize replacement with cassava peel meal (tagged diets B25, C50, D75, E100). The control was tagged diet A0. The experimental fish were randomly distributed into 15 rectangular glass tanks (60 x 35 x 30 cm3) at a density of 20 fish per tank. Fish were fed at 3% of their body weight per day in two equal portions.
The results revealed that the final weight gain (13.47g), daily weight gain (0.19g), percentage weight gain (243.62%), food conversion ratio (5.67), protein efficiency ratio (1.20) and the apparent protein digestibility (APD) of the fish fed with the control diet (diet A0) were not significantly (P>0.05) higher than those of the fish fed diets B25 and C50, but were significantly (P<0.05) higher than those of the fish fed diets D75 and E100. The specific growth rate and survival in all the treatments were not significantly different (P>0.05) from one another. The growth performance of the fish fed with diets B25 and C50 were better than those of the fish fed diets D75 and E100 (Fig.1). Haematological parameters (Table 1) indicated that the PCV, RBC and haemoglobin of the fish fed cassava peel diets decreased as the percentage replacement was over 50%, while the stress indicator haematological parameters (WBC and neutrophils) increased. 50% replacement of maize with cassava peel meal (diet C50) can be tolerated by C. gariepinus, without compromising growth.
