Progressive intensification of the carp and tilapia aquaculture in Madagascar leads to the increasing use of fish feeds. Locally available feeds can be imported or produced in Madagascar. As a part of the PADM project, a trial has been launched to evacuate the feasibility of producing fish feeds with raw materials available in the Analamanga Region.
Based on analysis performed on samples of the locally available ingredients gathered in 2019, a trial was designed to test the effect of graded inclusion of a peanut meal (PM). This raw material was rich in interesting nutrients (protein and lipids) and affordable but it is known to contain antinutrient factors and is highly susceptible to mycotoxins contamination.
A range of 3 feeds with increasing PM levels was formulated (Feed A=5% PM ; Feed B = 10% PM ; Feed C = 15% PM). Feeds were manufactured on a commercial extruder managed by a local feed meal. Feeds were used in 2 carp farms and 2 tilapia farms. Farmers were advised to distribute the feeds to different ponds (3 meals/day). Ponds were stocked with the same density. Weight gain were measured monthly. Carps and one tilapia group were fed for 150 days. The other tilapia group one for 190 days. Final harvest enable us to calculate the following parameters: survival, weight gain, daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio (FCR).
Fish fed with Feed A are generally showing better results than fish fed the Feed C. Feed B tends to give intermediary results but we cannot observe any clear dose effect response. Results analysis is complicated by the fact that the parameters measured differ a lot between farms. Our results also provide information on the nutritional composition of raw materials available in the Analamanga. We also analysed aflatoxins in the different batches of feed produced