Grass Carp Performance on a Low Fat, High Fiber Feed Formulated With Soybean Meal and Soy Hulls as the Primary Protein and Fiber Sources

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Category: Aquaculture

Region: Northeast Asia

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Grass carp growth performance with the ASA 32/3 grass carp feed was demonstrated in three ASA 80:20 pond technology trials in 2001. The ASA 32/3 feed is a 32% crude protein, 3% fat and 8% fiber feed, formulated with standard soybean meal as the primary protein source and soy hulls as the primary fiber source. Trial sites for 2001 were in Harbin in Heilongjiang Province, Beijing, and Meixian in Guangdong Province. In all three trials, grass carp were fed to satiation with the ASA 32/3 feed in extruded, floating pellet form. Grass carp in the Harbin trial grew from 70 g to 713 g in 140 days with an estimated FCR of 1.59:1. Fish survival in the Harbin trial was 84%, and production averaged 360 kg per mu for grass carp and 124 kg/mu for silver carp. In the Beijing trial, grass carp grew from 125 g to 811 g in 181 days with an FCR of 1.41:1. Fish survival was 93% and production averaged 493 kg/mu for grass carp and 110 kg/mu for silver carp. In the Meixian trial, grass carp grew from 84 g to 1,053 g in 138 days with an FCR of 1.19:1. Fish survival was 96% and average production was 607 kg/mu of grass carp and 52 kg/mu of silver carp. Return to investment for the three trials ranged from 9.6% in Beijing to 47.4% in Meixian. The results of the three 2001 trials confirm results obtained in a 2000 trial in Beijing with the newly introduced ASA 32/3 grass carp feed. In the 2000 trial, grass carp grew from 100 g to 815 g in 174 days, with an FCR of 1.27:1 and average production of 502 kg/mu of grass carp and 139 kg/mu of silver carp. Collectively, the results of the four ASA grass carp trials conducted in 2000 and 2001 indicate that the ASA 32/3 grass carp feed yields good grass carp growth performance, low FCR, good fish body conformation, and good market acceptance. With high inclusion rates of standard (44% crude protein) soybean meal and soy hulls, the all-plant protein ASA 32/3 grass carp feed is a low-cost feed that has excellent application potential for China grass carp producers.