The continuous decrease of shrimp prices during the past years has urged the shrimp farming industry towards improving profitability. Feed constitutes the major cost in (semi) intensive farming and is therefore a traditional target of cost cutting strategies. Reducing the feed cost by using cheaper feed is a strategy which is relatively easy to promote in a feed market where protein level is still often regarded as the single criterion to evaluate feed quality.
However, cheaper feeds, obtained by eliminating the most expensive ingredients in the formulation, do not always result in improved cost-efficiency. The resulting “nutritional gaps” obviously involve risks that the feed composition no longer covers the nutritional requirements, particularly under more intensive conditions where shrimp are more dependent upon the nutritional inputs from the feed. As a result, cheaper feeds may cost more money to the shrimp farmer than what is saved on the feed formula at the feed mill. Nevertheless, continuous pressure on the shrimp feed producers to reduce feed prices, despite increasing raw material cost, has resulted in a gradual decrease of average nutritional standards of shrimp feed in all shrimp producing regions.
At the aquafeed technical workshop “Optimize for Profit”, to be held in
The workshop is organized by Aquafeed.com and will be held on the first day of Victam Asia 2006 in the
Registration: Places are limited and booking fast. Pre-registration is required. Register now by downloading and returning the registration form in the PDF brochure here.
Delegates will also be able to visit Victam Asia, the premiere feed industry trade show in the region. More information about Victam Asia here.
