The technology of Shrimp feed processing is comprised of judicious selection of feed ingredients, least cost formulation, compounding by both conventional milling and extrusion cooking, and performance testing of the feeds.  The bench scale operation of the feed processing unit developed at our laboratory can yield several kgs of feeds per batch.  The chemical and physical characteristics of the feeds are tested by standard analytical procedure and aquarium tank trial is performed under semi-intensive culture conditions.  The feeds have been developed for black tiger Shrimp (peneous monodon) to be cultured in the brackish water p9onds.

Highlights of the process technology

1.    Selection of the feed ingredients from locally available materials with import of some essential ingredients if requisite quality material is not available in the country.

2.    Development of some essential marine protein and vegetable protein ingredients for which the suitable technology is not available in the country.

3.    Development of a computer software package for least cost formulation of the feed required for the different life stages of the species.

4.    Unit operation sequencing of the whole process constituting of grinding, mixing, blending, pelleting and drying operations.

5.    Comparative performance testing of the feeds processed through conventional milling and sophisticated extrusion cooking technology.

Achievements

1.    Several  formulations have been designed with the help of a computer software for the different life stages of P. monodon : juveniles (5-10 g), grower (10-15g), and finisher (15 g to harvest).
 

2.    Formulations with variation of ingredients such as imported fish meal, indigenous fish meal, Shrimp head meal, partial substitution of fish meal with soyabean flour, and various binders have been developed.
 

3.    Formulations have been processed with different compounding technology - conventional milling and extrusion cooking.

4.    The physical and chemical characteristics of the processed feeds have been found to be highly satisfactory and compare fairly well with those of some imported feeds.

5.    Aquarium tank culture trial under the semi-intensive condition showed that growth rate and feed conversion ratio were 9.0 - 14.0% and 2.7 respectively, which are expected to improve in pond culture trial.

6.    Cost  of the feeds processed in the bench scale operation has been estimated to be within Rs.20 to 25 per kg. based on the cost of raw ingredients.  The cost would come down below Rs.20 per kg. on the basis of the lower cost of the commercial grade ingredients and lower processing cost under economic scale of operation.