|
Comparative
utilization of biodegraded and undegraded rice husk in
Clarias gariepinus diet
Aderolu Ademola Zaid* and Oyedokun
Ganiyat
Department of Marine Sciences, University of Lagos, Akoka,
Nigeria.
*Corresponding author. E-mail:
dezaid@yahoo.com.
Tel.: +234-8033225139.
Accepted 23 May, 2008 |
|
Possible improvement in the nutritional composition of rice
husk (RH) was attempted through Solid State Fermentation
with the use of the fungus, Trichoderma viridii. A
comparative utilization of the fermented RH (FRH), raw RH
and a control diet was studied using parameters like
performance and nutrient utilization alongside some economic
indicators to arrive at conclusion that isonitrogenous diets
were produced using graded levels of RH (5.0, 75 and 10%) of
both raw and the fermented which were compared to a control
diet. The process of fermentation resulted in improvement in
the crude protein value of RH by 97% and reduction in the
crude fibre composition by 45%. Probably as a result of the
fermentation process, fishes fed FRH had better Food
Conversion Ratio (FCR), Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER) and
Specific Growth Rate (SGR) than their counterparts fed raw
RH. The Feed Intake (FI), Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) and
Protein Intake (PI) increased as level of inclusion of the
RH increases. The same observation is equally true for the
Profit Index, Benefit Cost Ratio and the Incidence Cost.
Key words:
Biodegraded, rice husk, Clarias gariepinus, fungus. |
