Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF PANGASIUS SUTCHI IN HDPE LINED POND DURING DROUGHT LIKE SITUATION IN BIHAR

Pankaj Patial, A.P. Mishra and M.A. Hassan

Abstract

Culture of Pangasius sutchi was attempted in a rearing pond (0.014 ha) as a measure of contingent plan for drought period. The pond bottom and side walls were dressed evenly and covered with low cost HDPE sheet to prevent seepage loss. The HDPE sheet was covered by a soil layer of 30 cm. To improve culture condition, liming was done @ 250 kg/ha and cow-dung was applied @ 10 tons/ha. Fingerlings were stocked at the rate of 15,000/ha. They were fed with commercial floating pellet at the rate of 5% of live biomass. After 5 months of culture period, 120 fishes (60 % survival) corresponding to 64 kg biomass were harvested. The final average length and weight of fish was 35.7 cm and 510 gm. Growth was monitored at monthly intervals and performance was assessed in terms of SGR, NWG, PWG and % ADG. Length-weight relationship was expressed as: Log W = -2.04576+ 3.044 Log L. A high degree of positive correlation (r2=0.995) was found between body length and weight. The exponential value of ‘b’ (3.044) followed the cube law in length-weight relationship. The well being of fish increased with the progression of growth of the fish as values of condition factor had shown an increasing pattern indicating the prospect of P. sutchi culture in Bihar particularly in adverse environmental conditions.