Impact of Herb Kali Musli (Curculigo orchioides Gaertn.) as Growth Promoter in Supplementary Feed of an IMC Cirrhinus mrigala (Ham.)

In present investigation, the roots of Kali-musli (Curculigo orchioides Gaertn.), an ayurvedic medicine, were mixed with the conventional diet (groundnut oil cake and rice bran in 1:1) of fish at 3 levels, and fed to the fingerlings of Cirrhinus mrigala (Ham.) in glass aquaria. Kali-musli was mixed with the conventional diet @ 0.02, 0.04 and 0.06 g/kg body wt./day. The control diet was kept without Kali-musli. All the experimental diets including control were fed @ 2% body weight of fish/day for 60 days. The fingerlings fed with Kali-musli @ 0.06 g/kg body wt./day showed highest weight gain (28%), whereas the fingerlings fed with Kali-musli @0.02 and 0.04 g/kg body wt./day and control diets showed weight gain of 19.0, 23.9 and 12.8%, respectively. ANOVA indicated that the growth/day, average weight gain, food conversion ratio, gross conversion efficiency and specific growth rate were significantly higher (P<0.05) in all the treatments compared to control. This preliminary trial stressed the need to use this herb in the diet of culturable carps through field experiments.