Background:
The parasite Argulus causes significant loss to fish production and for its control farmers are forced to apply highly toxic antiparasitic and or insecticide molecules. However, the present market available formulations these molecules are ineffective due to which they are required in a large amount. Due to the high application dose of conventional formulations of antiparasitic chemicals, severe toxicity occurs to non-target organisms and possess severe health hazards to humans.:
Technology Details:
To manage the parasite problem in fisheries, ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Kolkata has developed an innovative formulation called CIFRI-ARGCURE using nanomicellal approaches using synthetic and natural polymers. In this approach, the antiparasitic molecules are encapsulated in the polymeric nanomicelle. Upon addition to water, the formulation spontaneously emulsified and the size of these micelles ranged from 200 nm to 500 nm. Our laboratory experiment showed that the application of nanomicellal formulation of antiparasite molecules results in the disruption of hatching of Argulus bengalensis at a very low dose (0.001 ppm). Further, the in vitro application of nanomicellal formulation of antiparasitic molecules against adult Argulus bengalensis showed good results in killing all the adult parasites with very low LC50 (0.001 ppm) as compared to the conventional commercial formulation. Our field studies also showed that the said formulations performed well in the field conditions and retain the water bodies’ parasite-free for a longer time duration than commercial formulation at a similar application dose. The present innovation is directed towards better performance of antiparasitic molecules against fish parasites through nanotechnological interventions and further to improve food and environment safety through lowering the application dose. Advantages of the CIFRI-ARGCURE:
• A low dose of application • No organic solvents used • Low toxic to fish • Effective against the eggs of Argulus • No effect on phytoplankton • Environmentally safer User guidance:
• Dose: 40 mL / acre meter depth • Mix the liquid in 1 L of water and apply at the pond uniformly • Apply 3 times at an interval of 7 days