Journal of Agriculture and Ecology Research International

Aim: To assess the growth performance of Clarias gariepinus fed diets containing cotton leaf powder and the control diets.

Study Design: Completely Randomized Design (CRD).

Place and Duration of the Study: Department of Animal Production, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Kwara State University, Malete, Nigeria, between January and April 2015.

Methodology: Two hundred and twenty five (225) Clarias gariepinus fingerlings of average initial body weight 3.56 ± 0.03 g were randomly distributed into the 50 litre tanks filled with borehole water up to 3/4^thin a static renewal system. The fish were fed diets supplemented with 0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5% air-dried cotton leaf, 0.03% oxytetracycline (positive control) and 0.0% (negative control) diets in triplicates for 12 weeks at 5% body weight. Weight Gain (WG), Relative Growth Rate (RGR), Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR), Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER), and Specific Growth Rate (SGR), Condition Factor (CF), Hepatosomatic Index (HI), Gonadosomatic Index (GI) and Speensomatic Index (SI) were calculated. Data were analyzed using ANOVA at P = .05.

Results: C. gariepinus fed diets containing cotton leaf exhibited better WG, RGR, SGR, FCR and PER than the control diets. Fish fed diets containing 1.0-1.5% air-dried cotton leaf powder had significantly higher (P < .05) WG and lower FCR than those fed the negative control diet but did not differ significantly from oxytetracycline-treated group. SGR and PER showed the same pattern among the dietary treatments as that of the WG. However, the SGR, CF and HI were not significantly affected by the five experimental treatments. Supplementing the diets of C. gariepinus with cotton leaf did not affect CF, HI, GI and SI significantly (P < .05) when compared to the negative control diet. 

Conclusion: Supplementing the diets of Clarias gariepinus with 1.0-1.5% air-dried cotton leaf powder improved the growth performance and nutrient utilization as oxytetracycline used in this study.