The efficacy of the Bamukwasi Rock Valley Fish Feed (BRVFF)
Abstract
A study was carried out to determine the efficiency of the Bamukwasi Rock Valley Fish Feed (BRVFF) through catfish of the fingerling stage in Tororo District at the Bamukwasi Rock Valley Fish Farm in Nagongera Sub County from January to February 2019. The objective of the study was to determine the growth performance of the catfish fed the BRVFF and the Kourdjis feed (a standard feed on the Ugandan Market) to attain the objective, the proximate composition of the BRVFF was determined. The feed conversion ratio, specific growth rate and the survival rate and also the length and weight of the fish were also determined. Two treatments were set up for the catfish (one for fish fed on with the BRVFF and the other for fish fed on Kourdjis feed. Each treatment had three experimental units with 100 fingerling fish at stocking. Findings show that there was a significantly higher protein content in the Kourdjis feed (46.7%) than in the BRVFF (39.45). There was also a significantly higher crude fat content in the Kourdjis feed (9.9%) than in the BRVFF (5.8%). The ash content in the two feeds was not significantly different that is 12.3% and 11.1% for the BRVFF and Kourdjis respectively. There was a significantly higher moisture content in the BRVFF (16.62%) than in the Kourdjis feed (10%). There was also significantly higher amount of dry matter in the BRVFF (26.81%) than in the Kourdjis feed (22.3%). The Catfish fed with Kourdjis feed gained significantly (t=5.019, df=538, p <0.05) higher total length (5.653±0.041) than that fed on Bamukwasi feed (5.393±0.031). The Catfish fed with Kourdjis feed gained significantly (t=12.941, df=538, p <0.05) higher total length (1.544±0.026) than that fed on Bamukwasi feed (1.145±0.016). There was no significant difference in the FCR, SGR and SR of the catfish fed on BRVFF and that fed on the Kourdjis feed. This is good because the study sought to determine the efficiency of the BRVFF and given that the FCR was not significantly different from that of the standard feed, the BRVFF is good enough.