ABSTRACT
High cost of feed is a major constraint to fish farming in Nigeria. This study investigated the growth performance of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) fed graded levels of plantain peels (PPM). PPM was used to replace maize at 0% (T1), 25%(T2), 50% (T3), 75% (T4) and 100% (T5) for 56 days level. Data collected were analyzed One-way ANOVA test. Results showed that control diet (0% PPM) recorded the highest average weight gain (7.34 ± 0.09) which was significantly different (p<0.05) from the other treatments. However. there was no significant difference (p>0.05) in the weight gain for T2 (25%) and T3 (50%). A Similar trend was observed in the specific growth rate (SGR), Feed Conversion ratio (FCR) and protein efficiency ratio (PER ). Packed cell volume (PCV), Haemoglobin (Hb), Red blood cell (RBC), Mean corpuscular haemoglobin cell (MCHC), Lymphocytes were significantly higher (p<0.05) in treatment 4 than any other. MCV was highest in treatment 1 and lowest in treatment 4. MCH was significantly higher (p<0.05) in treatment 1 and lowest in treatment 3. WBC was significantly higher (p<0.05) intreatment 3 and Netrophhils was significantly higher (p <0.05) in treatment 5.
From the results of this study, PPM compares favourably with maize with optimum inclusion level obtained in this study is 50% PPM.
