The aquaculture sector is very competitive around the world. Fish farmers usually get the same price for the same species and of similar size. So, profitability in fish farming depends to a large extent on the cost of production. In commercial fish farming, feed is the major cost item, which accounts for two-thirds to three-fourths of the production cost. Therefore, the industry often seeks to reduce operational costs and improve outputs by optimizing feed inputs. It is a challenging task. Fish feed manufacturers must use an input mix that ensures all nutritional requirements for optimum fish growth, and at the same time, the feed cost is minimal.
Considering the role of feed in the aquaculture industry, this study utilizes a linear programming (LP) technique to identify the optimum combination of different feed ingredients that minimize the feed costs while meeting nutritional requirements for carp fish, namely, Katla (Catla catla), Rohu (Labeo rohita) and Mrigal (Cirrhinus mrigala). We have developed a linear programming model based on the market data collected from Bangladesh and the nutritional requirements noted for carp fish. Carps have a nutritional need for protein (32%) and fat (9%) content while following the local industry standard of moisture levels of 10%. The market data was collected from one of the largest feed manufacturing firms in Bangladesh. Although the data is based on the local market conditions in Bangladesh, the findings have applications beyond Bangladesh as many of the inputs (such as soymeal, corn, mustard oil cake, nutrients, etc.) used for the feed formulation are common for carp production in other countries.
The objective function of our LP model was to minimize the cost of feed ingredients while meeting the nutritional needs of adult carp. The optimization identified that a feed mix containing poultry meal (14.10 units), mustard oil cake (MOC, 58.85 units), and salt (9.39 units) provided the most cost-effective solution, with a total production cost of BDT 4,319 (USD 37.56) per 100 kg of feed. The company that provided us with market data informed us that they spent around BDT 5,000 (USD 43.48) for different feed ingredients to process 100 kg of feed. In other words, the optimum feed mix identified through the LP model has the potential to save feed input costs by 13.6 percent. Bangladesh has a fish feed demand for carp production of about 200,000 metric tons in a year. Thus, with large-scale adoption of the optimum feed mix generated through the LP model, Bangladesh’s feed manufacturing industry can save about BDT 1,362 million (USD 11.84 million) in a year to produce feed for carp without compromising feed quality and growth in fish production. We also conducted sensitivity analysis and determined the shadow prices for different feed ingredients.
Keywords: carp feed, linear programming, cost optimization, Bangladesh aquaculture, sensitivity analysis