2024, Vol. 7, Special Issue 5

author(s)
Mohankumar KC, Varadaraju S, Gajendra and Sarojini A

abstract
Shrimp farming plays an important role in the economic development of many countries because of its high economic returns. In shrimp pond, bottom soil plays an important role not only in influencing productivity but also acts as a store house of nutrients, helps in organic mineralization process, absorption and release of nutrients to water. It provides shelter and food to bottom biota, influence water quality and hence the survival and growth of shrimp. The pond sediment and water quality determine the growth rate of shrimp and in turn, their profit. To study the physico-chemical changes in soil and water quality during culture and its influence on the growth of Litopenaeus vannamei, soil and water samples were collected fortnightly from the shrimp culture ponds. The pond sediment quality parameters studied were pH, organic carbon, electrical conductivity, total phosphorus, total potassium, and total nitrogen. The water quality parameters studied were temperature, pH, turbidity, salinity, dissolved oxygen, total dissolved solids, ammonia-nitrogen, nitrite-nitrogen, nitrate-nitrogen, phosphate-phosphorus, and alkalinity. The overall observation of all the ponds about the influence of water quality parameters on the growth of the shrimp, it was noticed that temperature, pH, ammonia-nitrogen, alkalinity, and total dissolved solids were found to be significant. The soil quality parameters analysis with the growth of the shrimp, it was noticed that the electrical conductivity and total nitrogen of the soil were found to be significant. The average production of 3 tons per hectare per crop was obtained at Hejamadi ponds, and 7 tons per hectare per crop was obtained at Kundapura ponds. The survival rate observed ranged from 79 to 86%. The individual shrimp weight achieved varied from 25.32 g to 31.26 g for a culture period of 105 days.