News Feeding and Nutrition
Indian research council introduces advanced feeds and RAS for rainbow trout

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s Directorate of Coldwater Fisheries Research (ICAR-DCFR) has developed three “high-performance” feeds for rainbow trout: starter, grower, and brooder feeds. It has also developed recirculating aquaculture (RAS) technology for augmenting cold water fish production in the Indian uplands.

ICAR is an autonomous organisation under the Department of Agricultural Research and Education, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, and the Government of India.

Pramod Kumar Pandey, director of ICAR-DCFR, said the feed and RAS technologies are important milestones for expanding India’s cold water aquaculture landscape and rainbow trout production. Pandey also highlighted the role of private-public partnerships in developing impactful technologies for fish farmers. 

“The rainbow trout feeds developed by Biju Sam Kamalam and team are a substantial improvement in growth rate, feed efficiency, size uniformity, flesh quality, reproductive competence, and offspring quality, coupled with a remarkable reduction in fish culture duration and health issues,” an article from ICAR-DCFR reads.

The RAS technology reduces water use by 1/100-fold, and the net productivity of rainbow trout can be increased to four-fold in a shorter culture duration, the article states.

The announcement was made at a hybrid event attended by ICAR-DCFR scientists and research scholars.