Comparative Study on the Productive and Economic Performance of Litopenaeus vannamei and Oreochromis niloticus in Monoculture and Polyculture Systems in Egypt

Tilapia ranks as the second most cultivated fish species globally, with production having more than quadrupled in recent years due to ease of farming, high consumer demand, and stable market prices. To support continued growth and enhance sustainability, tilapia farming should adopt more sustainable practices such as polyculture systems. One such practice—integrating tilapia with shrimp—has been successfully applied by farmers in Egypt, yielding promising results in terms of overall farm productivity and operational efficiency. This study was conducted in Al-Hamoul, Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate, Egypt, to evaluate water quality, growth performance, feed conversion efficiency, and economic viability of the Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) in monoculture and polyculture systems. Three production cycles were carried out, each with three replications. The experimental treatments included: tilapia monoculture (TM) with 100 tilapia per tank, shrimp monoculture (SM) with 250 shrimp per tank, in addition to tilapia-shrimp polyculture (TSP) with 100 tilapia and 250 shrimp per tank. Both species were fed experimental diets containing 30% crude protein and 7% crude fat, administered to apparent satiety three times daily at 08:00, 11:00, and 14:00 over a 120-day period, under water salinity conditions of 10ppt. Water quality parameters—including temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), salinity, unionized ammonia, and pH—were regularly monitored. Growth performance, feed utilization, and survival rates were assessed at the end of the experiment. Water quality remained within optimal ranges for both species. Results indicated that integrating shrimp into tilapia farming did not negatively impact tilapia yield and may have positively influenced growth performance and survival rates. Feed utilization parameters showed no significant differences between monoculture and polyculture systems. Furthermore, the polyculture system demonstrated improved economic performance and productivity compared to monocultures.