Suitability of Labeo rohita for cage culture in Godavari River, Marathwada region, Maharashtra (India)

This was the first trial of cage culture of Labeo rohita in back waters of Godavari River in Marathwada. This experiment was basically tried for the suitability of the species for Cage culture. Final weight of the Labeo rohita in natural feeding cage was 5.96±0.71, 8.41±1.17, 22.03±4.73, 34.67±5.15, 58.25±12.31 and 92.15±12.10 gm for I, II, III, IV, V and VI th months respectively. Another set the cage was provided with supplementary food during the experiment. In this cage final weight of Labeo rohita was 7.09±0.66, 13.73±3.75, 41.97±9.80, 75.73±20.93, 160.95±34.28 and 244.88±22.11 gm for the six month study. The total fish production of Labeo rohita in 180 days in cage culture with natural feeding was 5.5 kg, whereas it was 17.6 kg in a supplementary feeding cage. It was first ever study in this area and result was encouraging in the field of cage culture. It was concluded that Labeo rohita is a suitable species for cage culture in back waters of Godavari River.