Fish feeds are source of nutrients for growth, reproduction and energy for fishes reared in aquaculture systems. They form the major component for running a fish farm. Fishes require variable quantity of nutrients in feeds at their larval, broodstock and grow out stages. To meet the demands, various conventional and non-conventional feeds are fed to these fishes. Proper utilization of feeds and feed management practices are essential for profitable fish farming. Different varieties of feeds are available in market and farmers select and use these feeds according to their understanding. The study presents various fish feeds and on-farm feed management practices in ornamental fish farms in Kerala.
Kerala state in India has approximately 700 ornamental fish production units. For sampling purpose, the state is divided into three zones ie; North, Central and South zone based on geographical position of districts. From the 3 zones, 75 ornamental fish farmers in Kerala were selected as respondents. A minimum 20 farmers were randomly selected from each zone. Sample is determined by multistage random sampling wherein structured questionnaire is used as a tool to collect information on fish feeds, price, feeding method, feed quantity and feed storage used in the farms.
The farms surveyed used 60 varieties of feeds for the production of ornamental fish. Among these, 45% are commercial dry feed, 28.33% are live feed, 11.67% are home made frozen mix, 10% are fresh frozen, 3.33% freeze dried feed and 1.67% homemade dry feed. 73.3% of the farmers used Artemia nauplii, 36% use Godrej White diamond, 36% Lucky star E-larval, 33% Tetra bits as feeds. 69.3% fish farms use 3-6 varieties of feeds. The price range of feeds used in the farms show wide variation. The cheapest feed used in fish rearing is the KS Cattle feed (dry feed) with 21 INR and expensive feed is freeze dried blood worm with 16909.66 ±10758.76 INR per kilogram.
On an average 45 kg feed per year is used for rearing fishes in each farm. The feed cost incurred in each farm is Rs. 5687 ±8651.23. The schedule for feeding is found to be once, twice or thrice a day. 53.3% of the farmers carry out feeding twice a day. Of the total farmers, 70.7% complete the first schedule at 6 am to 9 am and 48% of the farmers who feed twice and thrice daily complete the second schedule at 3 pm to 6 pm. In 72% farms, the feeding rate is adjusted based on the farmers experience and expertise. For storage of feed the farmers (64%) use fridge and air tight containers. Only 5.3% of farmers are aware about the ingredients and nutrient proportion in the feed. This exploratory study gives an insight to the feeding in ornamental fish farms in Kerala which can help the upcoming farmers as well as the ornamental fish production sector in future. The study will also enable the aqua feed companies to plan production, create product awareness and market their products efficiently.