Tilapia-Macrobrachium Polyculture

• Autor(a) principal: New, Michael B.
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Outros Autores: Valenti, Wagner C. [UNESP], Perschbacher, P. W., Stickney, R. R.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UNESP
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/11449/245040
• topic: freshwater prawns; Macrobrachium; Tilapia; polyculture; co-culture; IMTA

This chapter reviews the scientific research literature on the rearing of tilapia with freshwater prawns (Macrobrachium spp.) in polyculture (and co-culture) up to the beginning of the year 2015. The chapter starts with an introduction to the current global scale of tilapia and freshwater prawn farming. This is followed by a section on prawn-tilapia interactions. The chapter continues with a detailed review of four decades of research into prawn-tilapia polyculture. Following a section on commercial prawn-tilapia polyculture practices, the chapter provides a summary naming the major research centers involved in this topic. Finally, the authors conclude that tilapia and prawns are compatible species for farming through either polyculture or co-culture. Both systems are technically feasible today and can improve the use of natural resources (such as space, water, and nutrients), reduce the use of commercial diets, and increase profits. However, a significant research effort is needed to provide science-based knowledge in order to improve the efficiency of these aquaculture systems and to take full advantage of their potential to achieve a real multitrophic and multispatial equilibrated system (IMTA).