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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Vol. 35 No. 3 (2008)

Effect of population density on snail productivity (Helix aspersa) in an open sky system fed with Swiss chard and a balanced food supplement

Submitted
June 18, 2021
Published
2008-12-30

Abstract

Heliciculture is performed worldwide and has been promoted in Argentina; however, its development  and  expansion  has  been  limited  by  several  factors  that make  it  impossible  to reach  the production volumes necessary  for a commercial scale. Among other  factors,  it has been  impossible  to obtain a high amount of finished product according  to  the  initial density determined  in  the  fattening  stage;  additionally,  difficulty  in maintaining  an  adequate  forage supply has limited snail production. In this study, the influence of snail density using balanced food supply on the final production was studied in an open sky system. Density had no significant effect on the mean final live weight. For snails cultured at densities higher than 200 snail·m-2, the average diameter was lower than for snails cultured at 50 snail·m-2 (low density); however, the difference between the moderate snail density (100 snail·m-2) and the low density was not significant. The highest productivity per unit of surface was about 510 g·m2  (n = 200), which is similar to the amount that heliciculture producers want to achieve and slightly lower than what has been reported previously.

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