Abstract

Seema Langer, Yahya Bakhtiyar and Rewa Lakhnotra

The effect of locally available low cost ingredients such as silk worm pupae (SWP), soyabean meal (SBM), earth worm meal (EWM) as a replacement of fish meal (FM) on growth, survival and biochemical composition, were investigated for Macrobrachium dayanum (0.50 g). A significantly higher rate of growth, survival and food conversion ratio (FCR) were recorded for prawns fed EWM, as compared to SWP, SBM, and FM. The proximate composition of flesh further revealed a higher level of proteins and lipids in prawns fed EWM thereby indicating EWM as a possible substitute of FM.