Aquaculture, Kendal – Tambak Sari Village, Rowosari District, Kendal Regency is a fish farming area where the Sido Makmur Fish Cultivation Group (Pokdakan) is one of the pokdakan that plays an essential role as a support for the success of the area.

The results of interviews with members of the Sido Makmur Pokdakan conducted by the proposer team found that several problems faced by partners were the decline in catfish production due to the high feed cost for cultivation activities, almost 60% of the total production costs. The high price of fish feed is due to the efficiency of the feed provided not being maximized. In order to solve the problem of catfish cultivators in Tambaksari Village, Rowosari District, Kendal, which is a partner in this activity, the application of S. cerevisiae supplementation in commercial feed for catfish cultivation is used.

This FPIK grant funding activity aims to apply S. cerevisiae supplementation to commercial feed to increase feed utilization efficiency, growth, survival, and feed costs for catfish cultivators in Tambaksari Village, Rowosari District, Kendal. The benefit of this activity is to provide information on the supplementation of S. cerevisiae in commercial feeds to increase feed utilization efficiency, growth, and survival and reduce feed costs for the catfish cultivator group in Tambaksari Village, Rowosari District, Kendal.

Nutritional engineering by adding Saccharomyces cerevisiae to artificial feeds improves feed utilization efficiency, the more efficient the feed, the more nutrients, especially protein that can be digested and absorbed for the growth of catfish. In addition, S. cerevisiae is an immunostimulant that can increase the fish’s body resistance to disease attacks, thereby increasing the survival of fish. In this community service activity, partners are briefed and taught the addition of S. cerevisiae to artificial feed to increase feed utilization efficiency so that catfish growth increases and reduces feed costs; besides, it does not cause a decrease in the water quality of the cultivation media. The step of adding S. cerevisiae to artificial feed refers to the research results of Razak et al. (2017), namely by weighing S. cerevisiae as much as 4 g/kg of feed, then dissolved in 100 ml of distilled water, stirring until homogeneous, then put in a sprayer bottle and sprayed in artificial feed.

The results of the cultivation of catfish fed with the addition of S. cerevisiae during community service activities showed an increase in the growth and survival of catfish. The increase in catfish growth was probably due to the presence of S. cerevisiae in the feed, which could increase feed digestibility.

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The weight growth of catfish fed without adding S. cerevisiae to artificial feed and adding S. cerevisiae to artificial feed during community service activities on the FPIK grant is presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Weight growth of catfish fed without the addition of S. cerevisiae to artificial feed and with the addition of S. cerevisiae to artificial feed during community service activities on FPIK grants

Sampling (week)                                                  Weight (g)
Feed without S. cerevisiae Feed with S. cerevisiae
1 3,5 3,5
2 9,5 12,3
3 25,7 30,9
4 35,2 47,2
5 40,5 64,8
6 50,7 78,3
7 63,9 90,7
8 69,3 105,6
9 70,9 119,3
10 85,2 125,8

The availability of quality artificial feed influences the success of intensive catfish farming. However, until now, the cost of artificial feed can reach 60-70% of the production/cultivation cycle cost. This is because the feed given still has a low utilization efficiency, so the feed has not been utilized optimally. One solution to this problem is supplementing S. cerevisiae in commercial feed. S. cerevisiae can increase fish appetite so that feed intake increases (Manoppo and Kolopita, 2016). S. cerevisiae has been shown to enhance growth performance and modulate gut microbiota in different fish species. S. cerevisiae is also used as live feed in aquaculture. As an easy-to-find source, S. cerevisiae has been applied in several studies with different fish species and affects fish growth (Øverland et al., 2013). According to Mohammadi et al. (2016), S. cerevisiae can be attached to the intestine during the digestive process; this causes an increase in amylase secretion and increases the activity of digestive enzymes so that it can increase nutrient digestibility and growth.