ISSUE FOCUS 36 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE August 2024 Increased final body weight in a shrimp trial conducted in Mexico This trial conducted in Mexico assessed the impact of Economix on the growth of vannamei shrimp. Three feed formulas were tested: a Control diet, an Economix diet replacing 2% of fishmeal with canola meal, corn DDGS, and wheat while adding 2 kg/MT of Economix, and a third formula Economix “on top” incorporating Economix as a supplement of the control formula. The Economix diet was 2.2% less expensive than the Control diet (Table 2). It can be noted that the Control diet contains a protease. Each treatment was tested in five replicates, using 3 x 3 x 1 m cages submerged in a commercial aquaculture pond, with 225 shrimps (mean body weight of 3.08 g) per replicate. The trial was conducted over a period of 60 days. The results indicated that the inclusion of Economix significantly enhanced the individual final body weight (p-value <0.01), with the highest body weight achieved in the Economix “on top” diet, followed by the Economix diet and the Control. (Figure 3B) Additionally, both the Economix and Economix “on top” diets demonstrated numerically lower feed conversion ratios (FCR) of 1.62 and 1.59, respectively, compared to the Control diet's FCR of 1.67. (Figure 3A) This trial demonstrates that the Economix concept enables the production of more cost-effective and higher-performance feeds compared to a standard shrimp feed. Moreover, the Economix “on top” diet achieved a reduction in FCR by 0.08 points, an increase in final body weight by 0.3 grams, and a 6% boost in final biomass. These results suggest that Economix can also be utilized as a supplement to enhance shrimp zootechnical performance (Figures 3A & 3B). ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF ECONOMIX Cost Savings By reducing the reliance on expensive fishmeal and incorporating more affordable plant proteins, Economix offers substantial cost savings in feed formulation. These savings can directly enhance the profitability of aquaculture operations, making them more economically viable. 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 1.67 Control Economix Economix “on top” 1.62 1.59 FCR 17 15 13 11 9 7 5 14.7 Control Economix c Economix “on top” 14.8 a b Individual Final Body Weight (g) 15.0 Figure 3A. FCR of shrimp raised during trial in Granja experimental Malta Texo (Mexico, 2023) Figure 3B. Weight Gain of shrimp raised during trial in Granja experimental Malta Texo (Mexico, 2023) Values denoted by different letters are statistically different (p < 0.05)
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTUxNjkxNQ==