Feed Conversion Ratio – How Probiotics can help?

Feed Conversion Ratio is a basic and most important measure of productivity in aquaculture business. FCR is a measure of an animal's efficiency in converting feed mass into body mass output. In a nutshell it is increase of body mass in kg per kg feed intake.

When farmers are stocking the ponds with the fish fingerlings or samplings, the weight of the samplings or small fishes are checked(A). From then on farmer needs to calculate the amount of feed put in the aquaculture (B). When the season ends the farmer needs to calculate the weight of his output (fish/shrimp) (C). Using the following formula the FCR can be calculated.

FCR = B/C-A

What we need to understand is that digestion capability and survival rate of the fishes/shrimps are extremely beneficial to achieve low FCR i.e more weight gain with less feed.

If a farmer starts with 1000 fingerlngs and feeds them well 1000 kgs of feed and each fish weighs 1 kg after harvest, is the FCR a perfect 1? 

Well we need to consider the fact of survival, say if due to some poisoning or diseases 200 fishes die before maturity that will hamper the FCR as the weight of output is reduced. 

Similarly if the aquaculture/pond environment does not have enough dissolved oxygen or the pH level is not suitable fishes do not eat or even if they eat they are unable to digest it. Once the harvest is done these fishes are small as they could not digest or feed sufficiently due to improper environment, so the FCR takes a hit again.

Probiotics is the best and a natural solution to decrease FCR and increase production with lower cost of feed. Probiotics when applied on aquaculture improves the fish digestive system, improve plankton quality in water, controls ammonia in water hence reducing pH, inhibits disease creating pathogens and proves beneficial in many ways for the ecology of the pond and to the consumer who is eating the fish.

India is the second most populated country after China and we need food stability. Aquaculture has immense opportunity as more production will help in feeding a good protein diet to the huge population. FCR is one of the major measurements of productivity but we need to ensure that we are not sacrificing our environment by using unethical means of aquaculture for personal benefits.