IMPACT OF EMPTY PEA SHELL IN FEED ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF COMMON CARP (CYPRINUS CARPIO)

Abstract

The present study was intended to assess the potential of a mature empty pea shell (Pisum sativum) as a feed additive to the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) diet. This study was conducted for 90 days with the inclusion of 15 % pea shells into the feed with one control without pea shells in common carp feed. Pea shell was used as an additive to the feed in three experimental groups (T1, T2, T3) and the control group. In the T1 group, inclusion of pea shell partially replaced the fish meal, in the T2 group − partially replaced the fish meal and de-oiled groundnut cake, in the T3 group − partially replaced the deoiled groundnut cake and fully replaced the de-oiled mustard cake. An increase in the average weight gain was observed in the T3 group (11.17 ± 0.08) with respect to the T1 (10.89 ± 0.11) and T2 (11.05 ± 0.11) groups but lower than that of control (11.84 ± 0.09; at p < 0.05). In the T3 group, the specific growth rate (SGR) was significantly lower (1.04 ± 0.01) than the control (1.08 ± 0.02; at p < 0.05) but not significantly different with T1 (1.01 ± 0.03) and T2 (1.03 ± 0.03) groups. In the T3 group, the feed conversion ratio (FCR) was comparably higher (1.07 ± 0.01) than control (1.01 ± 0.01) but lower than T1 (1.10 ± 0.01) andT2 (1.09 ± 0.01) groups (p < 0.05). The study revealed that the inclusion of pea shells into fish feed can replace plant-based protein sources (mustard cake and groundnut cake).