Cyclic feed restriction on growth compensation of Penaeus monodon (Fabricius): science meets practice

Abstract

Effects of cyclic feed restriction on compensatory growth (CG) performance of Penaeus monodon, sediment loading and water productivity in a grow-out production system were examined in 119 days of culture duration. Among different feed management protocols (T1: Regular feeding, 4-times a day; T2: 2-weeks feeding followed by 1-week no feed; T3- 4-weeks feeding followed by 1-week no feed), overall crop performance was in the similar line in both T1 and T2 except significantly (P<0.05) low AFCR and higher FE in T2. This was probably due to the prevailing optimal salinity (19.1 ± 1.8 psu), DO (6.1±0.7 ppm) and water pH (7.54±0.13). Among T2 and T3, there was no significant (P<0.05) variation in overall crop performance except in SGR and MBW. This was probably due to the longer refeeding periods after cyclic food deprivation that successfully triggered full CG response in T3(CGI, 98-105%) and partial CG in T2 (89-96%).Shrimp on the cyclic feed restriction may have better used pond resources by increasing the consumption of natural productivity that increased the feed efficiency (71.6-73.5)