Soybean Meal Incorporation in Diet Improves the Growth and Survival Performances of Juveniles of Nile Tilapia (<i>Oreochromis niloticus</i>) in Rural Area of Senegal

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate if the soybean meal incorporation in locally made diet will improves the growth and survival performances of fry of Nile tilapia in rural area of Senegal. A completely randomized design with four treatments of soybean meal incorporation (0, 15, 30 and 32%) was utilized in this study. The formulated diets had 35% crude protein content. The fingerlings were fed to satiation two times a day at 9 AM and 4 PM for 56 days. The analysis of variance showed final weight, specific growth rate and percent weight gain of fish increased significantly (P < 0.05) as soybean meal was added up to 30% level. The feed conversion ratio values were high and decreased significantly (P < 0.05) with the increase of soybean meal in the diet, ranging from 2.17 to 2.90. There was also a significant difference (P < 0.05) in survival among treatment, survival ranged from 62.22% to 91.11%. Except temperature, the water quality parameters were in the optimal range of O. niloticus. In conclusion, the result of this study shows that soybean meal can be added to up to 30% in the O. niloticus diet, without affecting growth performances.