Performance of Puntius gonionotus fed mustard cake based diet

A 60 days feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the use of mustard cake as a dietary protein source for medium carp (Puntius gonionotus) fry. Mustard cake was incorporated at 0, 20, 30 and 40% (w/w) which substituted 0, 23, 35 and 46% of total dietary protein. The experimental diets were fed to 15 fish in triplicate in each group. The results on growth, feed conversion ratio (FCR) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) in the fish fed a diet with 46% substitution of dietary protein by mustard cake were comparable (P>0.05) with those on control diet. The carcass lipid content increased significantly (P<0.01) in the diet having 40% mustard cake vis-à-vis other groups. However, the carcass protein was comparable (P>0.05) with the control. The feed cost (Rs/kg) for different diets were Rs. 10.00, 9.10, 8.80 and 8.45, respectively for diets supplemented with 0, 20, 30 and 40% (w/w) mustard cake. The study indicated that mustard cake can be incorporated up to 40% in the diet of Puntius gonionotus without any adverse effect.