Economic viability of the piauçu Leporinus macrocephalus (Garavello & Britski, 1988) production

Abstract

Brazilian fish farms presented an accelerated development during the early 90's, mainly because of the increase in fee-fishing operations. To meet the demand of this market, fish production and supply became excessive and, as a consequence, the number of fee-fishing operations, farmers and the final selling price, decreased. This study analyzes the technical aspects, production cost, profitability and economic viability of the production of piauçu (L. macrocephalus) in ponds, based on information from a rural property. Feeding and fingerling costs amount to approximately 47.1% of the total production cost, representing together with the final selling price the most important factor affecting profitability. The payback period was 8.3 years, the liquid present value US$ 291.07, the internal return margin 9%, and the income-outcome ratio was 1.01, which represents an unattractive investment as a projection based on current conditions. The improvement in productive efficiency enhances the economic valuation index, and that the relative magnitude of cost and income are the most important points for the economic viability of the studied farm. Key words: costs, profitability, economic analysis, sensitivity analyses, fish farming VIABILIDADE ECONÔMICA DA PRODUÇÃO DE PIAUÇU Leporinus macrocephalus (Garavello & Britski, 1988)RESUMO: A piscicultura brasileira apresentou um acelerado desenvolvimento nos anos 90, principalmente impulsionada pelo aumento de estabelecimentos pesqueiros conhecidos como "pesque-pagues". Entretanto, o aumento do número de criadores de alevinos e a redução de pesqueiros resultou em um aumento na oferta de peixes e, conseqüente, diminuição do preço de comercialização. O presente estudo analisa os parâmetros zootécnicos, os custos de produção, a rentabilidade e a viabilidade econômica da engorda de piauçu (L. macrocephalus) em tanques escavados. Os custos com insumos somam 47,1% do custo total de produção, representando juntamente com o preço de venda do pescado, o fator decisivo na rentabilidade da atividade. O período de recuperação do capital foi de 8,3 anos, valor presente líquido de US$ 291,07, taxa interna de retorno de 9% e relação benefício-custo de 1,01. Como projeto, nas condições atuais, trata-se de um investimento de baixa atratividade. O aumento da eficiência produtiva melhorou os índices de avaliação econômica e o acompanhamento dos custos e receitas é ponto fundamental para a viabilidade econômica da propriedade estudada. Palavras-chave: custo de produção, rentabilidade, análise econômica, análise de sensibilidade, piscicultura

Metazoan parasite communities of Leporinus macrocephalus (Characiformes: Anostomidae) in cultivation systems in the western Amazon, Brazil

“…The species has increasing commercial prospects due to its great productive capacity (Martins and Yoshitoshi 2003), being attractive for intensive and semi-intensive rearing in mono and polyculture. The species is omnivorous (Andrian et al 1994) and adapts easily to artificial diets (Soares Júnior et al 2013), presenting rapid growth and good weight gain (Takahashi et al 2004).…”

Identification of sexually dimorphic gene expression in brain tissue of the fish Leporinus macrocephalus through mRNA differential display and real time PCR analyses

“…L. macrocephalus is a gonochoristic species that presents a ZZ/ZW sex determination system (Galetti and Foresti 1987). Moreover, it has been intensively exploited in the subtropical aquaculture due to characteristics as the facility to adaptation to captive breeding conditions, good reproductive performance and excellent growth rate (Takahashi et al 2004). Therefore, it may represent an interesting fish model to the understanding of the function of several vertebrate genes associated to sex determination and differentiation.…”

“…In an attempt to isolate sexually dimorphic genes expressed in adult fish brain we used a DDRT-PCR approach for mRNA screening in L. macrocephalus (piauçu), a gonochoristic fish species that represents an important food resource that has been intensively exploited in the subtropical aquaculture (Takahashi et al 2004) and that presents a ZZ/ZW sex determination system (Galetti and Foresti 1987). Further quantitative PCR analysis, through real-time PCR, permitted to identify the expression levels of the isolated transcripts.…”

In vitro selection of autochthonous bacterium with probiotic potential for the neotropical fish piauçu Megaleporinus microcephalus

“…It has been introduced into the Northern region of Brazil in state of Acre (Martins et al, 2017). The species shows well-developed reproduction in captivity (Martins and Yoshitoshi, 2003), a large growth potential (Takahashi et al, 2004), and readily accepts industrial feed, either extruded or pellet rations (Soares-Júnior et al, 2013).…”