Evaluation of locally available plant meals as a replacement of soybean meal as dietary protein source for catla catla fingerlings

The possibility of locally available plant meals as a replacement of soybean meal as dietary protein source for catla catla fingerlings was evaluated under intensive rearing condition in glass aquarium for 60 days. three iso-nitrogenous (24% crude protein) diets (d1,d2 and d3) were prepared and fed to fish at 3% wet body weight per day. each treatment group had two replicates. the data was analyzed by employing one way anova. the survival rate of fish as observed in d1 and d2 was 75%,while it was 100% in d3. the study showed across the board poor fish growth in all the treatment groups with non-significant difference (p ≥ 0.05) in final weight,gain in weight,sgr and fcr. however,a significant difference (p < 0.05) was observed for fish whole body crude protein,crude lipid,ash and crude fiber contents. crude protein and ash contents significantly increased with the increased level of plant protein meals while crude lipid percentage decreased with increasing the plant meals. it can be concluded that this replacement of soybean meal with other local plant protein meals did not have significant effect on fish growth. however,inclusion of higher level of plant meals (ipil ipil leaf meals,sunflower meals and rice polish) resulted in increased crude protein,fiber and ash contents of the fish. © copyright 2014 zoological society of pakistan.