Feed ingredients sources that are used by the farmers in most of the farms are mustard oil cake, ground nut oil cake, soybean cake meal as protein source. Cereals like rice bran, wheat and its by-product, maize, boiled rice, broken rice and other millets are used as energy source. Some non-conventional feed ingredients used are meat meal, guar gum, poultry by-products etc. Some vegetable oils such as groundnut oil, coconut oil, sunflower oil, sesame oil, mustard oil, soybean oil, soy lecithin, palm oil and, of late, rice bran oil are also used as feed ingredients that cater to dietary fat requirements. It is to be noted that, the proportion of ingredients in the feed changes with the changing environment and fish health condition. Hatchery owners also use chick-pea, jaggery, salt etc. as feed ingredients of brooder fishes.
Farm made feeds are an ad hoc concept for start-ups in aquaculture, where the volume of feed requirement is small and resources and funds are limiting. Farm-made feed is not only cost effective, but can also judiciously make use of available feed ingredients and generate employment and livelihoods. Through farm-made feed omega-3 enriched carps could be produced. The “Fish Feeds” outreach activity provided ample opportunities for research and extension activities towards improving fish production and sustainability by adopting multidisciplinary research in a network mode by the participating institutes with the cooperation of aqua-farmers and feed manufacturers.