Production of Heterotic Hybrid in Rohu (Labeo rohita) Through Strain Crossing

As a genetic means of aquaculture development, hybridization can increase production quickly in fishes because of heterotic effect. At the backdrop of reports on the decline of growth and reproduction of the hatchery population of Labeo rohita in Bangladesh, a 3 months study was undertaken to see the heterotic effect by intra-specific crossing among the Padma, Jamuna and Hatchery strains of rohu. Six reciprocal crosses and 3 pure crosses were obtained. The fertilization and hatching rates of the developing embryos were found better in the parental crosses than the reciprocal intra-specific hybrids. The growth performance of reciprocal crosses showed significant differences (P< 0.05) over the parental crosses. The best growth performance was observed in Padma ? X Jamuna ? hybrids; providing 72% positive heterosis. Since the growth rate of strain crossed hybrids were reasonably high, this technique can be profitably applied for the production of fast growing seed to ensure higher fish production and more profit. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijls.v5i1.5035 International Journal of Life Sciences Vol.5(1) 2011 32-38