Effects of poultry droppings on water quality, growth performance, feed utilization, and survival of Cirrhinus mrigala (Hamilton, 1822) under a vertical integrated fish-poultry farming system

Introduction

Aquaculture stands out as the most promising and rapidly growing sector in comparison to other major food-producing industries worldwide. In the global context, the growing food crises, driven by an increasing population, malnutrition, and inadequate supply of quality food, have become critical concerns. These issues are exacerbated by diminishing available resources such as land and water, coupled with the effects of climate change. It is evident that urgent action is needed to address these challenges and ensure a sustainable food supply for the future. Reports indicate that fish plays a vital role in meeting the protein needs of more than half of the world's population. Fish flesh provides easily digestible protein containing all the essential amino acids, as highlighted by research conducted by Godara et al. in 2015 [7] . Moreover, fish is a valuable component of a nutritious diet due to its low carbohydrate and unsaturated fat content. In the Indian context, carps play a pivotal role in aquaculture, accounting for more than 85% of total production. Among these, mrigala stands out as a key freshwater species extensively cultivated in polyculture systems using traditional or semiintensive methods. Highly valued as a food fish and significant in aquaculture practices across South Asia, mrigala is commonly farmed alongside rohu and catla, creating a sustainable polyculture system that provides essential food resources in the region.

Given the limited availability of land for farming, sustaining agricultural activities becomes crucial to expanding food production (Kalantari et al., 2017) [10] . To meet customer demand, it becomes imperative to develop alternative aquaculture approaches with integrated farming in such constrained locations. Thus, a technique that combines fish farming with animal husbandry and horticulture has been developed to address the current economic demand for maximizing food output, minimizing production costs, and emphasizing energy conservation. This integrated approach holds significant potential for increasing production of various commodities, generating employment in rural areas, and enhancing the socioeconomic status of farmers, as fish culture can be successfully integrated with livestock or commercial crops (Hirpo, 2017) [8] . Moreover, integrated fish-livestockhorticulture farming represents a method that brings together three traditionally distinct farming systems, integrating fish, livestock, and horticulture into a cohesive whole. The key objective is to achieve optimal waste or byproduct usage efficiency, where the waste from one subsystem serves as a valuable input for another. This approach has garnered significant attention, particularly focusing on utilizing animal manures as fertilizer and nutrients to stimulate the growth of natural feed in fish ponds (Hirpo, 2017) [8] . In this multi-commodity farming system, fish culture takes center stage, and waste recycling becomes a crucial component of the integrated approach. To address the global challenge of feeding the world's growing population and to make efficient use of scarce resources, it is essential to enhance production per unit area. Skyscraper vertical towers in metropolitan cities worldwide have already demonstrated the effectiveness of utilizing land efficiently to accommodate high population density within limited space. Building upon this concept, vertical farming of vegetables and flowers has been adopted in the western world to maximize agricultural output in constrained urban environments. Considering the success of vertical farming in the urban context, the present investigation aims to explore the effects of poultry droppings on water quality, growth performance, feed utilization, and survival of cirrhinus mrigala under a vertical integrated fish-poultry farming system.

Materials and Methods

Experimental Site

The research work was carried out at the College of Fisheries Science (formally known as PGIFER), Kamdhenu University, Rajpur (Nava) Himmatnagar. An experimental set-up to examine the growth performance was conducted at the wet laboratory.

Experimental Fish

Healthy Mrigal advance fry (Cirrhinus mrigala, Family Cyprinidae, and Order Cypriniformes) were used for in vivo experiment. The stock of Cirrhinus mrigala fish was obtained from the State Fisheries Department-Ukai, Gujarat. The average weight of the fish was 2.99±0.01 g. The prophylactic treatment following the standard protocol of bath treatment in 0.05% potassium permanganate solution was given to fish before placing them in an acclimatization tank. Fish was reared for one month under laboratory conditions for proper acclimatization under the optimal condition, before taking them for in vivo experiment. Commercial feed was used to feed the fish.

Experimental design

The research was conducted in pretreated (2ppm KmNO4, washed 3-4 times thoroughly) 1000 litre circular tanks, and filled with pre-quality tested water. The experimental setup followed CRD design and the tanks were arranged for treatments and control in triplicates of each (Table 3.1). The experimental fish Cirrhinus mrigala stocked @ 1g/L of water (180 fish per tank). Siphoning was done every day and water exchange kept 10-15% to compensate losses during siphoning and evaporation. The fish were fed at the rate of 10% of average body weight in split dosed twice a day for first 30 days and 8% for subsequent time. Growth parameters were monitored fortnightly. The set-up was made of six FRP tanks on which three cages were mounted except the three tanks which served as the control. In three tanks daily 10% poultry dropping were added as fertilizer. A total of 8 birds (6-month-old) were used. This experiment lasted for 75 days.

Water quality parameters

Quality parameters of water such as temperature, pH, TDS and electrical conductivity were determined in the biochemistry lab by HANA multiparameter bench meter (HI 5522, USA).

Growth parameters

Growth parameters of experimental fish like Percentage Weight Gain (gm), Feed Conversion Ratio, Specific Growth Rate (%), Body Weight Gain (%), Feed Conversion Efficiency, Protein Efficiency Ratio, Lipid Efficiency Ratio, Hepatosomatic Index, and Intestinal Somatic Index were analyzed during the study. The following formulas were used to measure the growth parameters of fish.

Mean

Statistical Analysis

The results of the present study were statistically analyzed using completely randomized design (CRD) and one-way analysis (ANOVA) using IBM® SPSS® version 26.00 software and significant differences (p<0.05) among treatment means were compared using Duncan multiple range test (DMRT) (Snedecor and Cochran, 2014) [16] .

Results and Discussion

Water quality parameters

The water quality parameter recorded during experimental period shown in table 1. In the present study water temperature was found in the range from 27.72±0.09 °C to 29.90±0.00 °C. According to Ahmed et al. (2011) (1) major carp grew most effectively in water that was between 26 °C to 29 °C. Getu et al. (2017) [6] observed 25 °C in fishpoultry-vegetable farming. Sharma et al. (2016) [14] found 24.7-32.5 °C under the fish-poultry-horticulture farming system. The results obtained in the present study were well within the optimum range and in agreement with the findings of Safi et al. (2016) [13] . During, the experiment lowest and highest pH values viz. 7.93±0.08 to 8.64±0.15 were recorded. Getu et al. (2017) [6] observed a pH 8.1 in fish-poultry vegetable farming. Bisht et al. (2009) [4] conduct a study on integrated poultry cum fish farming they observed pH ranging between 7.30-8.50 and 7.00-8.30 in experimental and control pond respectively. Vijayakumar et al. (2020) [19] found pH ranging between 7.1 to 7.7 under integrated system. Endebu et al. (2016) [5] reported 8.7 pH under integrated poultry fish farming. Pond water in the fish-poultry cultivation system had a mean pH of 6.40±0.14, while pond water in the non-integrated system had a mean pH of 7.82±0.06, which was slightly alkaline (Shoko et al., 2019) [15] . Sharma et al. (2016) [14] found pH between 6.8 to 8.3 under the fish-poultry-horticulture farming system. Safi et al. (2016) [13] found pH ranging between 6.1 to 7.6 under integrated system. The results obtained in the present study were well within the optimum range and in agreement with the findings of Vohra et al. (2012) [20] , Ahmed et al. (2011) [1] . The fluctuation in pH in the treated ponds with poultry droppings was presumably caused by the interaction of various biotic and abiotic variables as well as the addition of more faeces to the water (Pillay, 1990) [12] . The conductivity values were reported from 873.66±47.34 to 933.66±32.96 μS/cm. Getu et al. (2017) [6] observed a conductivity 113.5 µS in fish-poultry-vegetable farming. Ahmed et al. (2011) [1] observed electrical conductivity increasing trend ranging between 1.88±0.098 to 2.09±0.176 μS/cm under integrated poultry fish farming. Safi et al. (2016) [12] found conductivity varied from 0.203µS/cm to 0.584 µS/cm under integrated system which may be due to the high amount of poultry droppings. The preferred and acceptable ranges for fish culture are 100-2,000 μS/cm and 30-5,000 μS/cm, respectively. (Stone & Thomforde, 2004) (17) . The total dissolved solid fluctuated between 511.33±19.09 to 572.96±26.24 mg/l. Safi et al. (2016) [13] found total dissolved solid varied from 68-287 mg/l under integrated system. It was found that total dissolved solid level variations due to poultry dropping and plankton density (Jhingaran, 1991; Vohra et al., 2012) [9,20] .

Growth Performance

This experiment was carried out to find the effect of poultry dropping on growth and survival of Cirrhinus mrigala fry for 75 days of experimental period. The results of growth parameters include mean weight gain, and specific growth rate (SGR) shown in table 2. During the experiment observed body weight gain (%) ranged from 6.86±3.49 to 26.18±2.72 and 6.72±1.14 to 48.78±9.47 in control and treatment respectively. The results agreed with the findings of Ahmed et al. (2011) [1] and Safi et al. (2016) [13] revealing higher weight gain of Cirrhinus mrigala reared in fishpoultry integration systems. The possible reason behind this poultry manure primarily contributes nitrogen and phosphates to pond water, which increases pond productivity (natural food for fish) and hence increases fish weight gain (Kang'ombe et al., 2006) [11] . The highest SGR was noticed 1.54±0.14 and 2.62±0.41 in control and treatments respectively. The results agreed with Shoko et al. (2019) [15] they observed 2.36±0.75 in the integrated system while they observed 1.85±0.12 in the non integrated system. Vijayakumar et al. (2020) [19] observed 2.31 SGR in catla catla in fish cum poultry farming systems. The observed results were also supported by Safi et al. (2016) [13] , they observed lower SGR (0.39). The possible reason behind this may be insufficient amount of zooplankton and phytoplankton in the control pond. (Szlaminska and Przybye, 1986) [18] .

Feed Utilization

This experiment was carried out to find the effect of poultry dropping on growth and survival of Cirrhinus mrigala fry for 75 days of experimental period. The results of feed conversion ratio (FCR), protein efficiency ratio (PER) and lipid efficiency ratio (LER) obtained in the present experiment are given in table 2. The FCR values found at the end of the experiment were 3.86±2.62 and 1.64±0.29 in control and treatment respectively. Similar observation was reported by Ajani et al. (2020) [2] they found 1.39 FCR under fish, rice cum poultry system. The highest and lowest values of FCR were calculated fortnightly and at the end of the experiment. The possible reason behind this may be poultry manure can increase fish production because it can adequately offer nitrogen and phosphorus for phytoplankton and zooplankton, which in turn act as food for fish (Banerjee et al., 1979) [3] . In comparison to treatments using cattle and pig manure in unfertilized ponds, Kang'ombe et al. (2006) [11] claimed that using poultry manure generated better outcomes. The PER and LER readings showed a rising trend. The PER was 0.60±0.04 and 1.01±0.06 in control and treatment respectively. LER was 4.25±0.29 and 7.11±0.48 in control and treatment respectively.

Survival Rate

Survival rate of Cirrhinus mrigala fry in the respective treatments are presented in Table 2. The survival found at the end of the experiment was 92.03±0.49 and 92.33±0.97 in control and treatment respectively. Safi et al. (2016) [13] found survival of Cirrhinus mrigala 53% and 57.8% in control and treatment ponds respectively. According to Shoko et al. (2019) [15] the survival rates in the integrated system and non-integrated system were 97.58±0.70 and 95.58±0.91 respectively. Bisht et al. (2009) [4] observed 58% and 55% survival of Cyprinus carpio in control and treatment respectively. Endebu et al. (2016) [5] revealing survival rate of O. niloticus was 73% in fish-poultry integration systems. The possible reason behind this insufficient amount of zooplankton and phytoplankton in the control pond may be the cause of the lower survival rates. (Szlaminska and Przybye, 1986) [18] .

Conclusion

The current study shows that the application of poultry droppings in an integrated fish-poultry farming system improves Cirrhinus mrigala fry feed utilization, growth performance, and water quality. Temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, and total dissolved solids all stayed within acceptable and ideal ranges for carp culture during the 75day trial period, suggesting that poultry manure had no negative effects on the water quality. When compared to the control group, fish raised in poultry-manured ponds showed significantly higher weight gain, specific growth rate, and improved feed utilization efficiency. The increased availability of natural food organisms, probably stimulated by the nutrient input from poultry droppings, is reflected in the treatment's lower feed conversion ratio and higher protein and lipid efficiency ratios. The effectiveness and safety of applying poultry manure at the applied level were confirmed by the high and similar survival rates between the control and treatment groups. Overall, the results point to integrated fish-poultry farming as a successful, financially feasible, and ecologically sound strategy for raising freshwater fish production. Fish growth and feed efficiency can be improved while reducing reliance on commercial feeds by using poultry droppings as organic fertilizer.

Small-scale farmers have a great deal of potential to use this system to boost freshwater aquaculture productivity and profitability.

Acknowledgement

AcknowledgmentsThe authors sincerely acknowledge the College of Fisheries Science, Himmatnagar, for providing the necessary facilities and infrastructure to carry out the present research.

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