Sodium nitrate use as strategy of fertilization in the production of the shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei

Abstract

The aim of the present research was to evaluate the performance of the production of the shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei in ponds fertilized with sodium nitrate. The experiment was developed in a farm located in the Municipal District of Goiana, Pernambuco State (Brazil). The experimental design considered two treatments: NS (sodium nitrate enriched with phosphate, silicate, boron, magnesium, sulfur and potassium) and SNS (urea, triple superphosphate, sodium silicate). Statistical analysis used the Student "t†test (P < 0.05). The treatments NS and SNS provided,respectively, weight (g) in the first forty days of 3.2 ± 0.1 and 2.8 ± 0.2; final weight (g) of 8.5 ± 0.46 and 8.2 ± 0.55; feed conversion ratio of 1.8 ± 0.30 and 1.6 ± 0.18; survival (%) of 69.7 ± 15.31 and 82.7 ± 10.3; time of culture (day) of 131 ± 8 and 128 ± 12; and yield (kg/ha.cycle) of 2,133 ± 928 and 2,220 ± 319, presenting significant difference among the treatments, for the shrimp weight in the first forty days of culture.