(IntraFish) The aquaculture feed sector is growing at a faster pace than any other feed sector worldwide, reveals a survey of 132 countries conducted by the US animal health and nutrition company Alltech. When it comes to production, Alltech survey shows China leaves vast majority of world players in the dust.
Yet the survey found that total usage of aquaculture feed worldwide – at 29.7 million metric tons – pales in comparison to other sectors, reports weeklytimesnow.com.au. It represents just 3 percent of total feed production, whereas the poultry sector's usage of 378.6 million metric ton, represents 43 percent of total feed usage.
More than half the feed used for aquaculture - 16.6 million metric tons - was in China. The country produced more feed for its aquaculture sector than the total feed production in each of the bottom 121 countries surveyed.
Peru, while renowned as a hotbed of aquaculture feed production, did not make the list of top 40 feed producers worldwide, since the survey included other categories.
The US is the second biggest overall feed producer worldwide and the biggest poultry sector producer, with production of 83.9 million metric tons of feed, or 10 times Australia's total feed output.