Study on Growth and Survival of Giant Freshwater Prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii , in Tarai Agroclimatic Regime of Uttarakhand

Giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, is a high value cultured aquatic species, commonly called as 'scampi' in trade circles. An experiment was conducted at Instructional Fish Farm of the College of Fisheries, Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar in four rectangular earthen ponds each of the size of 0.033 ha in tarai agroclimatic regime of Uttarakhand. The stocking of PL 10 was done @ 60000/ha. The pre-stocking management of the ponds included dewatering, drying, liming, organic manuring and watering of ponds. The water quality parameters were monitored regularly. The larvae were fed with starter feed upto 60 days of rearing when the larvae attained average weight of around 4g. Thereafter, juveniles were fed with grower feed @ 5% body weight twice a day in two equal splitted doses. The sampling of the prawn was done at fortnightly intervals. The average weight of the prawn at the time of stocking was 0.04g while after 180 days of culture at the time of harvesting the prawn attained average weight of 25.37 ± 14.21g with 76.95% survival. The average absolute growth rate of 0.140 g/day and specific growth rate of 1.55% was achieved during the experimental period. The calculated gross production of 1183.159 kg prawn/ha/crop of 180 days was obtained. The result of the study inferred that the culture of giant freshwater prawn, M. rosenbergii, is feasible in tarai agroclimatic regime of Uttarakhand. The fish farmers of the area can earn their sustainable livelihood through scampi farming.