Feed Peas in diets for shrimp tilapia and milkfish - Northern Pulse ...

Potential Of Feed Pea (Pisum Sativum) As An Alternative Protein SourceIn Practical Diets For Milkfish (Chanos Chanos Forsskal)Ilda G. Borlongan, Perla S. Eusebio, and Timothy P. WelshAbstractA 12-week feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the use of feed pea as a potential dietary protein sourcefor juvenile milkfish, Chanos chanos Forsskal. Six isonitrogenous (30% crude protein) and isocaloric (3940kcal/kg) practical diets were formulated. The control diet contained fish meal, soybean meal, meat andbone meal, and copra meal as principal protein sources. Feed pea was progressively substituted at 0, 5,10, 15, 20, 25 and 30% of total protein. A leading commercial milkfish feed was also tested as an additionalcontrol. The experimental diets were fed to triplicate groups of milkfish fingerlings (mean initial weight of0.42 ± 0.01g) at 10% body weight/day. Growth performance (expressed as % weight gain and SGR),survival, feed conversion ratio (FCR) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) of milkfish fed diets with up to 10%substitution of the dietary protein with feed pea were not significantly different (P >0.05) compared to fishfed the control diet. Replacement with feed pea at 15% and higher levels led to milkfish fed these dietsshowing a significantly lower growth response compared to fish fed the control without any feed pea.Nevertheless, it was observed that milkfish fed diets with up to 20% of total dietary protein substitution withfeed pea showed better growth rates and feed conversion ratios than the commercial feed control. Wholebody composition (crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, nitrogen free extracts, and ash content) of milkfishfed the various test diets was not significantly different. Apparent digestibility coefficients of feed pea andexperimental diets in milkfish were also determined. Results indicate that feed pea is an acceptable proteinsource and can substantially replace up to 20% of the total dietary protein in milkfish diets.Keywords:Aquaculture feeds; alternative protein source; feed pea (Pisum sativum);milkfish (Chanos chanos Forsskal)IntroductionThe current trend in milkfish culture is toward increased intensification of culture systems whereby provisionof feeds becomes necessary and success therefore depends significantly on the availability of wellbalanced,nutritionally complete and cost-effective feeds. For many years, SEAFDEC AQD has doneconsiderable research on the nutrient requirement of milkfish, assessment of nutritive value of availableingredients, and development of simple and appropriate feeding technology. These are all importantfactors toward the development of cost-effective feeds and feeding strategy. SEAFDEC AQD has alsoendeavored to develop cost-effective feeds for milkfish culture. There is a need, however, for these feedsto be continuously refined, improved, and tested for technical and economic feasibility.In recent years, the rising cost, uncertain availability, and fluctuating quality of fish meal has led to thesearch for alternative protein sources for fish feed to sustain fish production. The use of plant proteinsources to completely or partially replace fish meal in fish diets has been studied for many years by severalworkers for different fish species (De la Higuera et al., 1988; Moyano et al., 1992; Borlongan and Coloso,1994; Sanz et al., 1994; Gomes et al., 1995; Kaushik et al., 1995; Hardy, 1996; Robaina et al., 1997;Watanabe et al., 1997; Carter and Hauler, 2000; Kissil et al., 2000 and Farhangi and Carter, 2001).Feed pea (Pisum sativum), an abundant agricultural product, is a potential feed ingredient. It is a highenergy, medium protein ingredient with average protein content (%CP) of 22 to 24% and digestible energy(DE) of 3420 kcal/kg. Lysine is particularly high at 1.6%. The efficiency of feed pea as a feed ingredienthas been evaluated for cattle, swine, and poultry. However, there is a paucity of information on the use ofthis ingredient as dietary protein source for aquaculture species.The aim of the current study was to assess the potential of feed pea (Pisum sativum) as an ingredient inpractical feeds for milkfish (Chanos chanos Forsskal). This was compared with solvent-extracted soybeanmeal because soybean meal is the most often used plant alternative to fish meal in milkfish feeds. The firstphase of the experiment was conducted to establish the nutritive value of feed pea through measurement offish growth, feed utilization and carcass composition. The second phase assessed the apparentdigestibility coefficients for dry matter and dietary protein.Materials and MethodsExperiment 1: Growth performance and feed utilizationExperimental DietsThe test diets were formulated to be isonitrogenous and isocaloric. The control diets were the existingSEAFDEC milkfish formulation that had been previously tested in intensive ponds as having an FCR of 1.5(D-1), and a leading commercial milkfish feed (D-8). The composition and proximate analyses of the20