Effect of L carnitine on the Growth of Rohu Labeo rohita under Sodic Soil Condition

Abstract

The experiment was conducted for 90 days to examine the effect of L-carnitine on the growth of Rohu (Labeo rohita). The fingerlings with initial average weight 37.36and#8239;±and#8239;0.12and#8239;g were stocked in earthen ponds of 8×8×1 m at Instructional Fish Farm, College of Fisheries. A total of 300 fishes were equally distributed in 15 earthen ponds with 5 treatments, each having three replicates. Conducted four different treatments with supplementation of L- carnitine viz. T1 (at 0.75% along with 0.5 t/ha sugarcane bagasse base, T2 at 0.75% in feed along with 1.0 t/ha sugarcane bagasse base, T3 at 1.0% along with 0.5 t/ha paddy straw base and T4 at 1.0% along with 1.0 t/ha paddy straw base while T0 (control) diet was neither supplemented nor added any kind of soil base. The physico-chemical parameters of water including DO, pH, Free CO2, total alkalinity, total dissolved solids were analyzed and found within the optimum range for the culture of the experimental fish and the soil parameters indicated significant (plt0.05) decrease in soil pH (7.95±0.04) and ESP (13.84±0.07) while enhanced level of soil-N (289.54±0.34) and organic carbon (0.63±0.01) in T2 (sugarcane bagasse at 1.0 t/ha). One-way Anova was used to analyze the effect of L-carnitine on the various growth parameters. Significant growth was noticed in fish weight gain (%), SGR, FER in T2, while T1 and T4 revealed no significant difference among themselves. The lowest FCR (2.21±0.01) was recorded in T2 and depicted significant difference with other treatments. The proximate analysis of fish indicated the highest protein (62.37and#8239;±and#8239;0.14%) and lipid content (13.80and#8239;±and#8239;0.05%) was found in T2. The results demonstrated that supplementation with L-carnitine, significantly enhances the growth performance and flesh quality of Labeo rohita under sodic soil conditions when combined with organic amendments like sugarcane bagasse newline