Evaluation of the impact of Agricultural by-products on the Integrated Production of Merchantable Tilapia Oreochromis Niloticus (Linné, 1758) and rice (Oryza Glaberrima, Steud, 1853) in Bonoufla, Côte d'Ivoire

The trials involved 60,132 GBEBI rice (Oryza glaberrima) seedlings and 4,703 tilapia juveniles with an average weight of 38 ±9.16 g fed with two complementary diets: (AC), (ASF) and a natural food (AN). Stocking density was 1.5 fish/m2. Nine ponds were used, 3 of which were randomly allocated to each feeding treatment to assess fish growth and rice production. Daily rations of 3% of the reared fish biomass were distributed in two meals (9 am and 3 pm). Rice seedlings were transplanted at a spacing of 25 cm x 20 cm. After 180 days of testing, for the complementary ASF and AC diets, the best nutrient quotients (Qn) (2.74 ±0.75) and daily growth (3.47 ±0.88 g/day) were obtained with AC. On the other hand, the highest Qn (4.56 ±1.15) and the lowest daily growth (2.36 ±0.56 g/day) were recorded with ASF.Comparison of all batches showed that fish fed only natural feed (AN) had the lowest daily growth (1.27 ±0.64 g/day). Rice yields where the supplementary feeds ASF (3.04 ± 0.04 t/ha) and AC (3.91 ± 0.40 t/ha) were fed were better than those of AN (control) (2.59 ±0.54 t/ha). This study shows that it is possible to improve the production of O. niloticus merchantable tilapia and the yield of GBEBI rice (Oryza glaberrima) with the use of supplementary feeds in the rice-fish system.