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Fermented sweet potato biomass: a sustainable ingredient for aquafeeds Rex Ferdinand Traifalgar, University of the Philippines Visayas, Maria Theresa Valdez, Tarlac Agricultural University, Leodevico L. Ilag, Plentex Limited The contribution of aquaculture to global food production is expected to increase, therefore the need for sustainable and cost-effective feed ingredients will also rise. It has been projected that aquaculture production will reach 105 Mt in the year 2029. However, this projected growth is dependent on feed inputs, which account for about 50-60% of the total production cost. Feed protein supply requirements for the expansion of aquaculture are considered the limiting factor that significantly affects the sustainability and economic viability of the industry. Currently, feed proteins for aquaculture are sourced from fish and soybean meals. However, utilization of these meals as fish feed has been viewed unfavorably by the public as an inefficient way of
resource utilization. Fish should be consumed directly as human food and should not be used as feed for other fish. Furthermore, the food and the livestock industries are competing with aquaculture for soybean meal leading to an increase in prices and erratic supply of this feed material. Moreover, there is also growing concern and trends against the use of soybean because of its association with nonsustainable production processes.
ProEnK: The future of sustainable feed production for aquaculture To address the global concern regarding the supply of feed ingredients required to sustain the growth of aquaculture, Plentex Philippines lnc., and experts
Figure 1. Weight gain of Pacific white shrimp fed diets containing increasing replacement levels of soybean meal with ProEnk.
Aquafeed: Advances in Processing & Formulation Vol 13 Issue 3 2021
