EFFECT OF REPLACEMENT OF SOY MEAL BY GUAR MEAL ON GROWTH AND SURVIVAL OF Cyprinus carpio (LINNAEUS, 1758) SPAWN

One of the major points of discussion of the current era is the growing population and the need to meet their nutrition. Fish production is a vital resource towards poverty reduction and food security for millions of people. The present study was conducted to check the efficacy of guar meal as a suitable feed ingredient to replace the conventional protein sources like fish meal and soybean meal. It was also intended to find out the commercial feasibility of such a substitution and to draw initial observations on guar meal for catering the aquaculture industry. Guar is an annual legume plant and is commonly known as cluster bean. Guar scientifically known as Cyamopsis tetragonoloba comprises of hull (13.4-14.1%), germ (43.3-44.2%) and endosperm (36.040%). Three days old common carp spawns were reared in indoor tanks with five different feeds, including control. Five iso-nitrogenous (30% CP) and iso-caloric feed (5% lipid) were prepared with graded replacement of soy meal with guar meal. The experiment was carried out for 30 days in 20 rectangular tanks made of an inert material with capacity of 20 litres. Treatment having 30% guar meal (T-3) showed better results as compared to other treatments. The ultimate survival rate ranged between 68-84%. All the growth parameters recorded were higher in treatment 3 (30% guar inclusion) followed by treatment 2 (20% guar inclusion). The results of the experiment were subjected to completely randomized design (CRD) with four treatments and one control (four replications each). Treatment means were compared with post HOCS test or Duncan's multiple range test.  Results of this study indicate that soybean meal or fish meal can be replaced with guar meal to the tune of 30% to obtain optimum growth and survival in common carp spawn during nursery rearing.