ANALYSIS ON THE COST BENEFIT OF CLARIAS GARIEPINUS (BURCHELL,1822) HATCHLINGS FED BAKER’S YEAST, EGG YOLK AND MILK POWDER AS STARTER DIETS

Abstract

Analysis on the cost benefit of Clarias gariepinus hatchlings fed baker’s yeast, egg yolk and milk powder as starter diets was carried out at the National Biotechnology Development Agency, Katsina state for the period of three (3) months. The aim was to evaluate the cost benefit analysis of Clarias gariepinus fry fed Fed baker’s yeast, egg yolk and milk powder in the form of a feed. Feeding trial involved using four different food items: shell-free Artemia as control (T₀), baker’s yeast (T₁), chicken egg yolk (T₂) and powdered milk (T₃). The results showed that treatment 2 (T2-egg yolk) showed relatively higher mean yield cost/fry similarly it has the highest profit index compared with the control, T1 and T3 respectively. Production costs of C. gariepinus fry across all the treatment was (₦/fry) 2.80. Higher weight gain was observed in the control (1.52g) followed by treatment 3. Clarias gariepinus hatchlings shown to have higher growth potentials by average cost of production when fed egg yolk at early stage of development.