Tilapia Farming

Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) were produced in an experimental, on-farm grow-out cycle inwhich economic and production efficiencies were partially examined. Milled feeds were provided either daily(control) or on alternate days (experimental) at a given percentage of body weight, ranging from 20% initiallyto 2% at the end of the experiment. Growth, survival, feed conversion efficiency, cost, yield, and income wereconsidered under the two strategies. Although the cost of feeds was cut in half by the experimental feedingtreatment, feeding on alternate days did not reduce Nile tilapia growth or production performance variables,and yields were not significantly different. A trend favoring larger fish among the controls was not significant,and profit margins were higher for the alternate-day feeding strategy than for the control strategy. Althoughfeed conversion ratios varied considerably among the nine participating farms, the improved efficiency in theexperimental groups was consistently observed and was statistically significant. It is possible that theimproved performance attained by alternate-day feeding is a result of reduced feed waste, either through morecomplete consumption of or improved nutrient absorption from available feeds.

Fishkill had been a common cause of problem on aquaculture and socioeconomic aspect of the Municipality of Lake Sebu. This study aims to improve the management of aquaculture in the area by correlating the relationship between the atmospheric temperature and humidity, and the bacterial load of Nile tilapia and water. A total of thirty (30) Nile tilapia samples and water were involved in this research. Using selective agars to isolate bacteria from the samples, Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., and Vibrio spp. had been detected and counted with ease, while the water samples had been tested for detection of bacteria by a diagnostic laboratory. Then, the results were correlated to the data gathered from the annual atmospheric humidity and temperature of Lake Sebu and Lake Seloton.

Statistically and through gross visual inspection, Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. have significant difference, while Vibrio spp. do not have significant difference. From this study, the potential of bacteria to confer with its external factors, atmospheric temperature and humidity, is highly observed.

Resumen: El cultivo de tilapia es uno de los rubros que ha tenido un buen crecimiento a lo largo de últimos años en la zona sur de Honduras, este al ser un cultivo de agua dulce y para obtener mejores ganancias lleva a los productores a sembrar a grandes densidades, por consecuente, esto aumenta una mayor demanda del recurso agua que provoca un gran impacto al ambiente en especial la zona sur que se caracteriza por ser una zona seca. Objetivo: Evaluar el desempeño del cultivo de tilapia y la calidad del agua utilizando probiótico. Metodología: es una investigación experimental con un diseño en bloques al azar con un tratamiento y un control con dos repeticiones cada uno, densidad de 9.5 tilapias por tm 3, en tanques de geomembrana con volumen de dos toneladas de agua, a los tratamientos se les aplicó el probiótico cada dos días, cero recambios. Se tomaron parámetros de calidad de agua y biometría de peces tanto en los tanques con tratamiento, así como en los tanques control. El ensayo tuvo una duración de 45 días. Resultados: se observan mejores crecimientos, sobrevivencias y calidad de agua en los tanques con tratamientos que en los tanques control. Conclusión: el desempeño de las tilapias y la calidad del agua fue mejor en los tratamientos que en los tanques control, por lo que con los resultados obtenidos concluimos que el probiótico realiza un efecto positivo en el desempeño de las tilapias y la calidad del agua de las unidades de producción. Palabras clave: calidad de agua, probiótico, tilapia, piscicultura Abstract: The cultivation of tilapia is one of the items that has had a good growth over recent years in the south of Honduras, this being a freshwater crop and to obtain better profits leads producers to plant at high densities, consequently, this increases a greater demand of the water resource that causes a great impact to the environment especially the southern zone that is characterized as a dry zone. Objective: To evaluate the performance of tilapia culture and water quality using probiotic. Methodology: it is an experimental research with a design in random blocks with a treatment and a control with two repetitions each, density of 20 tilapias per tm3, in geomembrane tanks with a volume of two tons of water, the treatments were applied the probiotic every two days, zero refills. Parameters of water quality and fish biometry were taken both in the tanks with treatment, as well as in the control tanks. The trial lasted 43 days. Results: better growths, survivals and water quality are observed in the tanks with treatments than in the control tanks. Conclusion: the performance of tilapia and water quality was better in the treatments than in the control tanks, so with the results obtained we conclude that the probiotic has a positive effect on the performance of the tilapia and the water quality of the tilapia. the production units.

Aquaculture in the form of fish farming was introduced in Cameroon in 1948. But, it still remains marginal. The population's demand is estimated at more than 400,000 tones, but production is still insufficient to meet this demand. Indeed, the contribution of fisheries and aquaculture is less than 1% of GDP and those of aquaculture less than 0.1%. However, aquaculture is the fastest growing food production sector in the world. Research being the basis and the backbone of development, this review is an inventory of works of aquaculture research in Cameroon. To the most popular species (common carp, North African catfish and tilapia) is added today a dozen of endemic species. The research has been concerned in recent years with fry production, nutrition, composition, domestication of fish and also their parasites. Important work have also been done on the intensification of fish farming, the use of agricultural by-products in aquaculture, the promotion of integrated aquaculture and on the potential negative impacts of fish farming on the prevalence of diseases and on the environment. It also placed particular emphasis on the constraints of fish farming in Cameroon, particularly on the difficulty of adoption of new farming innovations, the relative profitability of fish farming, the need for support to fish farmers, the relation research-farmer, the financing of fish farming, and many other constraints. This basic work already done by research can be improved. It will thus be able to contribute in reducing the large deficit of Cameroonian aquaculture production.

The results indicate total investment costs for tilapia production is GHȻ 38,916.8. The amount indicates investment costs for six (6) ponds on a hectare of land. The major investment cost is vehicle which is GHȻ 15,000.00 (38.5%). The cost of pond construction is GHȻ 7,200 which is 5.4% of the total investment costs. The major operation cost for tilapia production in the municipality is cost of feeding which is 61.75% of the total operating costs which is even higher than total operating fixed costs (14.31%). Cost of fertilizer which is represented by 28.18% is highest cost in maize production. The gross revenue from tilapia production for two production cycles in a year is GHȻ 129,600.00 with net revenue of GHȻ 51,864.00 whereas the gross revenue of maize production for two production cycles in a year is GHȻ 4,800.00 with net revenue of GHȻ 1923.12.00. The gross margin from tilapia and maize production is about GHȻ62,988.00 and GHȻ2541.12 per year respectively. Generally, almost similar gross ratio of 0.60 and production efficiency of 1.67 was recorded for both ventures. NPV value for tilapia production is GHȻ 26,157.00 compared to GHȻ 2,514.59 of maize production at the end of five years.  Sensitivity analysis shows both tilapia production and maize production can still be viable when there is 10% increase in operational costs. However maize production tends to be more viable and financially prudent when interest rate on savings and other investments goes beyond 25% than tilapia production.

The organization of Tilapia value chain was initiated in Toamasina, Madagascar from 2015 after many attempts of developing the Tilapia farming sector in the Region. The main constraints consisted of poor quality inputs: fingerlings and feed; lack of technical competence on the farming and difficulty to reach the market by the farmers due to logistical constraints. Those constraints have been solved by Tilapia de l'Est through the production of good quality and all male fingerlings by its integrated hatchery; provision of good quality feed for the fish; logistics facilitation for harvest transport and conditioning and organization of a common commercialization through a common sale point for the farmers.  The Oreochromis niloticus farming is very promising for the local farmers in Madagascar. Effort and current research are carried out on how to increase the performance and to sustain the acquired good quality inputs by developing a local breeders genetic platform and more affordable feed cost as it is currently the biggest cost of the farming.

Tilapia has been considered as the food fish of the 21st century and is popularly known as aquatic chicken. The Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus is a widely cultured species because it grows and reproduces in a wide range of environmental conditions and tolerates stress induced by handling. Uncontrolled multiplication of the fish not only reduces the faunal diversity of the system but also produces dwarf fish population of poor market value. Monosex culture of male tilapia was postulated to solve this problem and exogenous steroid (methyl testosterone) induced sex reversal is the most commonly used procedure .All male Nile tilapia production in ponds using fertilizers yields low levels of production. Use of commercially available formulated feed is gaining popularity to improve production. Feed accounts for 50-60% of production cost and is costly. For producing cost effective feed and maintaining an ecologically sound culture system environment, now-a-days, artificial feeds particularly of floral origin are extensively used. Green seaweed, Enteromorpha intestinalis grows luxuriantly in brackishwater system which sometimes become menace is reported to contain considerable amount of protein and antioxidants and can be cultured in mass scale. This work is an attempt to develop a low cost fish feed for all male Nile tilapia incorporating E. intestinalis based on fish growth and production performances along with water quality and economic parameters to boost up an alternate livelihood for Sundarban dwellers.