Project Components
Improving the floatability of SUSFEED
Pond farmers in Ghana have traditionally managed their ponds by using agro-by-products as supplementary feeds. These feeds are applied in mixtures that were unbalanced leading nutrient losses and poor water quality. The Sustainable Fish Feed Project (SUSFEED) with DANIDA’s support,13-P01-GHA, developed two cost-effective diets from four locally available oilseed meals. The two diets had results similar to a commercial feed, but limited floatability, which is a desirable quality to promote higher feed intake, reduce waste and to help in monitoring the wellbeing of fish. Under the current project the team is researching on using popcorn and other carbohydrate sources (cassava flour, maize flour, wheat bran and rice bran) to improve on the floatability of SUSFEED.
Water Quality in Tilapia production
The maintenance of a good water quality in tilapia pond production is a major challenge in Ghana. Tilapias are uniquely tolerant to sub-optimal water quality, which allows them to survive for extended periods of time under conditions that would be detrimental to other species. As such not much attention has been paid to determining specific factors that influence both physiological and productivity particularly in the tropics. Research will be conducted on optimising the culture environment in local production systems and providing research-based water quality guidelines and feed management for optimal utilization for Ghanaian tilapia fish farmers.
Reproduction of the African bony-tongue
Fish farmers in Ghana and several African countries have long desired to culture the African bony tongue (Heterotis niloticus). It has a huge potential for culture, it attains 2-4 kg in one year under semi-intensive culture. It has a high market value (~$6/Kg) and good acceptance among consumers across West and Central Africa. There are however several bottlenecks to its successful production chief among which are the limited knowledge on spawning under natural conditions and in captivity and high larval mortalities. The focus of this study is to ascertain the environmental factors to influence spawning in the species as well as research on larval nutrition from the post-hatch stage to the absorption of the yolksac and the start of exogenous feeding.
Capacity Building
This component involves the training of two PhD and three MPhil students enrolled at KNUST but jointly supervised by the Ghanaian and Danish partners. Their study falls under the broad thematic areas of improving SusFeed, enhancing pond water quality for tilapia culture and developing the hatchery protocols for the commercial culture of Heterotiis niloticus. Knowledge from this project will be transferred nationally through collaboration with farmers and at workshops including key stakeholders, and internationally through publications and conferences. The project seeks to ultimately position KNUST to continue to play a lead role in the development of aquaculture in Ghana.
- Current students (profile)
- Supervisors
Dissemination and Outreach
This is a key component of the project as it affords the research team an opportunity to make known the findings of the research to the aquaculture research community and to all relevant stakeholders at national, regional and international through workshops/conferences and in published peer-reviewed scientific journals, newspaper articles and on social media. The production of technical manuals, workshops and field demonstrations are means through which the findings and results will be extended to fish farmers.