Production Performance and Feed-related Economics of Pangasius Cage Culture in the Sriram Sagar Reservoir, Telangana, India: A field-scale Case Study

Abstract

Reservoir cage aquaculture can generate substantial fish biomass without constructing additional ponds, but production and financial performance depend on stocking, survival, feed conversion, water exchange and market price. We documented a field-scale Pangasius cage-culture unit in the Sriram Sagar Project at Pochampad, Telangana, India. The production unit comprised ten rectangular floating cages, each measuring 6 m × 4 m × 4 m (96 m³), with a combined culture volume of 960 m³. A total of 26,000 approximately 3-inch-long fingerlings were stocked at 27.1 fish m⁻³ and cultured for 7–8 months using CP Company floating feed containing 22% crude protein. Survival was 85%, corresponding to an estimated harvest population of 22,100 fish. Total marketable production was approximately 20,000 kg, equivalent to 2,000 kg cage⁻¹, a harvest biomass density of 20.8 kg m⁻³ and a calculated mean harvest weight of 0.905 kg per surviving fish. At an apparent feed conversion ratio of 1.50, estimated feed use was 30,000 kg and feed expense was INR 11.55 lakh at INR 38.50 kg⁻¹. A farm selling price of INR 120 kg⁻¹ generated gross sales of INR 24.00 lakh and a feed-adjusted return of INR 12.45 lakh before other production costs. Routine monitoring classified the major freshwater physicochemical parameters as being within acceptable operating ranges. The case demonstrates the production and income potential of conservative reservoir cage stocking while emphasising the need for continued numerical environmental monitoring, complete feed and mortality records, and full enterprise costing.