STUDY OF ECONOMICAL BENEFIT OF SOY-BASED FLOATING FEED VERSUS MASH FEED IN MONOCULTURE OF TILAPIA (GIFT) IN PAKISTAN  

R.S.N. Janjua*1, Kevin Fitzsimmons2, Sehar Munawar3
1 Country Rep. American Soybean Association/WISHH/SoyPak, Karachi, Pakistan
2 Department of soil, water and environmental sciences, University of Arizona.
3 Department of Zoology, Lahore College for Women University, LCWU, Pakistan
*Presenter email: janjua@soypak.org
 

Background: In 2012 the FEEDing Pakistan project of American Soybean Association (ASA) through World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) funded by USDA was started and implemented by SoyPak to introduce the benefit of soy-based floating feed and GIFT Tilapia in Pakistan.

Objective(s): The purpose of the study was to provide a showcase of economic benefit of using soy-based floating feed versus powdered home-mixed feed (mash) and impact on GIFT tilapia production per acre as a new profitable business entity in the cluster of major Indian and Chines carp fish farming region i.e. Muzaffar Garh, Punjab in Pakistan.

Methodology: The study was carried out in at local progressive fish farm in Muzaffar Garh for a period of eight months. There were two different ponds with the stocking density of 5,000 GIFT tilapia (locally sex-reversed tilapia) per acre was maintained. It was decided to allocate one pond to soy-based floating feed and one pond to home-mixed (mash) feed. GIFT tilapia fry of 0.2 g weight was stocked in mid-March 2013 and first harvest was carried out on November 07, 2013. Required records were properly maintained and same treatment of feeding and pond management was practices in both ponds. Water parameter were monitored on daily basis for pH, temperature, DO, and salinity.

Results: The pond fed with soy-based feed biomass was 3,450 kg versus pond fed with mash feed was 2,700 kg, average weight 690 grams and 540 grams and FCR was 1.2 and 4.1 respectively. Total revenue was recorded Rs. 690,000.00 for soy-based floating fed pond and Rs. 486,000.00 for mash feed fed pond. The profit per acre was 3.9 time higher in soy-based floating fed pond as compared to mash feed fed pond. Return on Investment (ROI) and Benefit Cost Ration (BCR) were higher in soy-based floating feed fed pond as compared to mash feed fed pond.

Keywords: Soybean Protein, GIFT Tilapia, extruded floating feed, mash feed, BCR, ROI.