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Russia develops feed to boost efficiency of commercial carp breeding

The new feed additives can also be used in mixed feed for other farm animals

MOSCOW, July 6. /TASS/. Scientists have developed fish feed, experimental use of which proved the possibility of increasing the efficiency of commercial carp breeding. The feed was developed by a team of scientists at the Don State Technical University (DSTU, Rostov-on-Don) together with the Donskoy Agrarian Scientific Center (Zernograd, Rostov Region) and the Southern Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Science, the DSTU press service said.

Scientists investigated three samples of pelleted full-fat mixed feeds: one sample according to the standard recipe and two according to the experimental composition. The first of the experimental formulas included only wheat grain of early phases of ripeness, that is, wheat after threshing with particles of chaff, ears, and the second additionally introduced a probiotic feed additive. Two-year-old carps were fed with this feed for a month at the experimental station of "Donskoi" center.

Survival rate and feeding coefficient in the control group were 95% and 3,20 accordingly; when the first experimental feed was used - 96% and 3,06; when the second experimental feed was used - 98% and 2,80. Thus, the highest gain and survival rate were observed in the group of fish whose diet contained both feed additives - from grain pile and probiotic.

"The survival rate increase by 3 percentage points is a good result, especially on the scale of industrial production," DSTU Dean of the Agroindustrial faculty, PhD in Engineering Sciences, Assistant Professor Dmitry Rudoy commented on the significance of the experiment results.

The feed coefficient, he noted, shows the amount of feed eaten by the fish per unit of fish growth. In this case we can see decrease of fodder consumption per weight gain. It takes 3.2 kg of conventional feed for fish to gain 1 kilogram, compared to 2.8 kilogram of new feed, which includes wheat and probiotic. "In industrial production conditions, that's a big savings," Rudoy said.

The new feed additives can also be used in compound feed recipes for other farm animals.