Growth performance of brackishwater enhanced selected tilapia (BEST) reared in brackishwater ponds

Abstract only.Tilapia culture contributes greatly to world aquaculture production. Several tilapia strains have been developed locally and one of these has been developed for brackishwater aquaculture. BEST or the Brackishwater Enhanced Selected Tilapia was developed by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources with the aim of promoting brackishwater culture of this commodity to further improve tilapia production in the Philippines. This study will determine the growth performance of BEST reared in organically fertilized brackishwater ponds at three different stocking densities. The study was conducted in nine (9) units of 200m2 ponds. Pond preparation was done following standard procedures that include drying, liming, teaseed application and fertilization. Stocking was done after twenty days when primary productivity in the ponds was noted. Three culture systems were used, namely: extensive (Treatment 1 or T1), semiintensive (Treatment 2 or T2) and intensive (Treatment 3 or T3) systems. The study was conducted for 120 days. Results showed that fish in ponds in treatment T1 had an average body weight (ABW) of 52.1g, T2 stocks with ABW of 223.1 g and T3 stocks with an ABW of 214.5 g. Meanwhile, T1 stocks had a survival rate of 91.9% while stocks under T2 and T3 had survival rates of 80 % and 84% respectively. T1 results showed losses amounting to P382 since total revenue of P958 is smaller than total cost of P1,340. T2 harvest on the other hand registered a total revenue of P 10,368 and total cost of P 4,375 hence net return of P 5,634. T3 also had total revenue of P 21,419 with a total cost of over P 8,498 giving a net return of P12, 471. T2 showed a return on investment (ROI) of 128% and a payback period of 0.77 year. T3 had an ROI of 139% and payback period of 0.71 year. Average feed conversion ratio (FCR) in two runs for two treatments are the same at 1.1 Water parameters like DO, salinity, temperature; water level and pH were also taken. Water level in the ponds ranged from 70 to 74 cm, salinity at 6.3-6.9 ppt, DO at 1.5-1.7ppm, temperature at a constant 29°C, monthly pH ranges were from 7.1 to 8.0 and transparency of 34-47 cm

Narrative congruence between populist President Duterte and the Filipino public: Shifting global alliances from the US to China

This research examines what happened when the populist Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte reversed his country\u27s global alliance, switching loyalties away from the United States towards China. We use the lens of narrative congruence, to see if political storylines of a populist president are accompanied by similar shifts in storylines among his followers. Our data corpus consists of text from Duterte\u27s speeches and from comments on partisan Facebook pages, representing supporters and opponents of the president. We time‐bound our data corpus to text produced around the time President Duterte announced his realignment towards China. We use text mining and network analysis to identify overlaps among words used by the different social actors. Our findings show that when Duterte switched alliances, Facebookers—regardless of partisanship—accepted this alliance shift. However, our results likewise reveal an imperfect congruence. Duterte\u27s followers move on to a story criticizing Duterte\u27s domestic political enemies, whereas anti‐Duterte Facebookers talk about monetary deals and drug issues in the Philippines\u27 newfound friendship with China. We discuss our findings in the light of a psychology of populism, the use of a discursive social networks approach to study macropsychological phenomena, and discursive resistance in a populist state