Growth of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) fingerlings fed on varying proportions of alfalfa meal and fishmeal

Abstract

The study was conducted to evaluate growth performance and feed utilisation of catfish fingerlings (average initial weight 0.07 ± 0.02 g) fed on five different iso-energetic and iso-nitrogenous (40% CP) feed types for a period of 30 days. The feed types contained varying proportions of alfalfa meal (GP) as a replacement for fishmeal (FM) i.e. (100%FM-0%GP, 75%FM-25%GP, 50%FM-50%GP, 25%FM-75%GP and 0%FM-100%GP). The inclusion of alfalfa meal up to 25% and beyond in the feed types reduced (p < 0.05) the growth performance and feed utilisation in catfish fingerling groups as compared to the control feed type (100%FM-0%GP). The decrease in growth performance was linearly correlated with the increased inclusion of alfalfa meal in the feed types. The difference in the growth performance and feed utilisation efficiency can be attributed to a number of factors that include high crude fibre content, anti-nutritional factors, protease and amylase inhibitors in alfalfa meal and digestive physiology of catfish fingerling. The results of the study indicated that fishmeal is still a superior protein supplement in catfish fingerling feeds than alfalfa meal