By Dr.Surinder Khanna,
Poultry Consultant,Ambala
Limited feed supply and poor quality of the available feeds are the major constraints for optimal livestock & Poultry productivity in our country.Most of regions of India are characterized by irregular rainfall and thus livestock have to survive on persistent shortage of feed resources of low nutritional value for most part of the year . Non-conventional feed resources (NCFR) generally refer to all those feeds that have not been traditionally used for feeding livestock and are not commercially used in the production of livestock feeds.
The poultry industry is an important aspect of the livestock subsector in India with a potential to solve the problem of malnutrition, unemployment and augmenting rural economy. As feed constitutes 60-70 % of the total cost of production. This high feed cost may lead to a decrease in animal production (Ibeawuchi, et al 2000) which contributes to low protein intake. This vicious cycle of low productivity and intake of animal protein has been maintained and sustained by the scarcity of feeding stuff especially cereals occasioned by the fact that the available conventional sources such as maize are shared by humans. A major gap exists between the demand and supply of conventional feed resources for feeding livestock in the world. In order to manage this problem of demand and supply, it is essential to increase the availability of conventional feed resources for the different livestock production and management systems. But most poultry feeds have very similar characteristics being low in fiber and essentially cereal based, as such often comprise between 50 and 75% of the diet. Cereal grains such as maize, grain sorghum, wheat, and barley contribute most of the carbohydrates to poultry diets. It is therefore clear that feeding of poultry presents a challenge to farmers. This is because poultry shares the same similarity with humans in terms of its nutrient requirements and the fact that cereal grains such as maize used in formulating poultry rations are equally consumed by humans. Also, the production level of these very important cereal grains has not been adequate to meet the growing needs of the poultry industry. So its need to improve the scientific knowledge for utilizing low cost locally available agro-industrial by-products in poultry feed in order to reduce the feed cost.
Attempts to utilize locally available cheap by-products may benefit the end users in reducing the feed cost which in turn can reduce the total cost of production of meat and egg and making them easily available at a cheaper cost in rural India. The traditional sources of vitamins and proteins used in poultry rations such as fish meal, meat and bone meal, soybean meal, groundnut cake, etc. are becoming expensive in developed countries. The availability of such feed ingredients is not adequate because of the spiraling cost of raw materials and ever-increasing competition with human beings for the same food items. Hence, the search for alternative feed sources has become inevitable to reduce feed cost. One method is to exploit the use of non-conventional feed resources (NCFR) in livestock production systems (Ben Salem et al, 2004).
Non-conventional feed resources (NCFR)
Most of NCFR feed resources are low in energy, protein, minerals and contain high amounts of anti-nutritional components (Ben Salem et al, 2004). The major constraints to the use of NCFR are a collection, storage, dehydration (due to high moisture content) and detoxification processes. Processing technologies that are economic and practical are urgently required. Some of the materials like sal seed meal, neem seed cake, mahua seed cake, and galas seed cake are available in large quantities but due to the presence of potentially toxic substances, have limited value in animal feeds. Many of the forest tree seeds contain 15-35 percent oil and are used for the extraction of oil, after which the cake is valuable as animal feeds. Animal organic wastes such as dung and poultry excreta are also potentially available as a part of animal feeds.
Non-conventional feed resources (NCFR) generally refer to all those feeds that have not been traditionally used for feeding livestock and are not commercially used in the production of livestock feeds. Several known examples include palm leaf meals, palm press fiber, cassava foliage, spent brewer’s grains, sugar cane bagasse, rubber seed meal and some aquatic plants (Chadhokar, 1984). The term NCFR has been frequently used to describe sources such as oil palm by-products, single-cell proteins and feed materials derived from agro-industrial by-products of plant and animal origin, poor-quality cellulosic roughages from farm residues and other agro-industrial by-products such as slaughter-house by-products and those from the processing of sugar, cereal grains, citrus fruits and vegetables from the processing of food for human consumption also comes under category of NCFR.
Need for Non-conventional feed resources
• Serious shortages in animal feed of the conventional type.
• With an increasing demand for livestock products as a result of rapid growth in the world economies and shrinking land area, future hopes of feeding the animals and safeguarding their food security will depend on the better utilization of unconventional feed resources which do not compete with human food.
• Non-conventional feeds could partly fill the gap in the feed supply, decrease competition for food between humans and animals, reduce feed cost, and contribute to self-sufficiency in nutrients from locally available feed sources.
Characteristics of nonconventional feeds
• They are mainly organic and can be in a solid, slurry or liquid form
• Their economic value is less than that the cost of collection and transportation for use thus referred to as wastes
• Some feeds contain toxic factors and have a deleterious effect on animals. For example Castor bean meal, neem seed cake
• These are by-products of food production systems that have not been used, recycled or salvaged.
• They have considerable potential as feed materials. In the case of feeds, their value can be increased if processing techniques are employed.
Generation of NCFR
The generation of non-conventional feed resources is essentially from agriculture and various agro-based industries and is a function of many factors. Such factors include the quantity and quality of the materials produced which is dependent on the prevailing agro-climatic conditions and cropping patterns, the type of raw materials, the production process, the production rate, the type of inputs used, the regulations affecting product quality use and the constraints imposed upon effluent discharge(Devendra, 1985) Most non-conventional resources are usually regarded as waste so, they can be used to supplement the existing limited feed resources. Recycling, reprocessing and utilization of all or a portion of the wastes, offers the possibility of returning these materials to beneficial use as opposed to the traditional methods of disposal and relocation of the same residues. The demonstration of potential value can thus make any of these waste products new feeds of value and importance.
Processing of NCFR to complete feeds and Total mixed ration
• Before feeding Nonconventional feedstuffs they must be well processed- (chaffing, grinding (8 mm) and pelleting) and mixed into a uniform blend that discourages selection.
• For this, the concept of “complete ration” is identified in which large numbers of Unconventional feeds are used to prepare proper nutrient ration to the animal.
• Expander extruder method is of importance in processing of such feeds.
• Expanding-application of moisture, pressure, temperature to gelatinize the starch portion.
• Extruding-pressing the feeds through constrictions under pressure.
BENEFITS DERIVED FROM THE USE OF FEED FROM WASTE
New, local industry will benefit from recycling waste by-products and the benefits from it lead to the following features.
1. Environmental sanitation- the sanitary disposal of offal, such as the by-products of the slaughterhouse, presents great difficulties. Not only does this offal attract vermin and present danger of spreading disease, but it also tends to decompose, rapidly forming an ideal substrate for microorganisms and leads to objectionable odors. Burning or burying of inedible offal, or its use as fertilizer leads to a total loss of potential by-products and, unless properly carried out, it may also lead to spread in disease (El Boushy, 1990). The effluents from slaughterhouses and from the processing of potatoes, citrus, grapes, and wine, were purified, it would be possible to reuse wastewater and produce a sludge that could be used in a dry form for livestock and poultry feeding purposes. The sludge could also be activated by means of micro-organisms that use the organic material as a substrate to provide a higher nutritional value in comparison with the original sludge.
2. Livestock health and productive agriculture- offal can be used either to manufacture fertilizers or livestock feedstuffs depending on the speed with which they are handled and the freshness of the raw materials.
3. Price structure- the use of by-products and recycling waste will influence the price of meat and eggs and the price paid in foreign currency (owing to the imports of fish meal or soybean products used as feedstuffs from Benefits of feed from waste abroad) to the producer of livestock. Depending on local circumstances, the return derived from the use of by-products (animal, vegetable and fruit wastes) may be used to decrease the prices of meat and eggs to the consumer or to give the livestock producers more gain for their product and by-products.
4. Creation of new employment- there is no doubt that the disposal of waste (inedible offal, fruit, and vegetables, tannery or municipal refuse) needs little or no manpower in developing market economies. The conversion of offal, however, into valuable by-products creates new employment and skills at the place of production.
5. Reducing imports of feedstuffs (foreign currency) by upgrading local waste- If a local industry such as the poultry industry is able to transfer all the offals by rendering and produce poultry offal meal (blood, feet, heads, intestines, and feathers), a product will be created with high nutritive value. This application may lower the present imports of feedstuffs, fertilizers, cereals and soya, animal products and total agricultural products that require foreign currency.
CONSTRAINTS IN THE UTILIZATION OF NCFR
• Limited knowledge of the chemical composition and feeding values of Nonconventional feeds.
• Most of NCFR contains Anti-Nutritional factors thus not suitable for use in animal feed, And little knowledge about their characterization, quantification in ingredient, and their long-range effects on animal health and productivity.
• Nonavailability of NCFR in large quantities. Production is scattered in definite areas.
• Availability is restricted to the particular season in a year. And no storage facility.
• Lack of managerial and technical skills utilizes the feed in situ.
• Processing difficulties: Difficulties in the collection, handling, transportation, and processing of these feeds.
Limiting factors for the use of non-conventional feed
Nutritional aspects
• Variability in nutrient level and quality (soil, climate [temperature, rain], variety, harvest method, processing)
• Presence of naturally occurring anti-nutritional and/or toxic factors (alkaloids, non-starch polysaccharides, glycosides, tartrates, heavy metals)
• Presence of pathogenic micro-organisms (Salmonellae; present if waste is not processed/ sterilized properly)
• Need for supplementation (minerals, most limiting essential amino acids)
Technical aspects
• Seasonal and unreliable supply (need for storage) (wine, apple, dates; duration of transport) Bulkiness, wetness and/or powdery texture (need for pelleting) (Brewers’ spent grains; poultry manure, sludge; potato starch)
• Processing requirements (drying, detoxification) (availability of machinery; knowledge of processing; energy source)
• Lack of research and development efforts (feed industries) (cooperation developed/developing countries; transfer of knowledge) (Modified after Ravindran and Blair, 1991).
PROSPECTS OF NCFR
Nutritional composition
• Use of enzymes to improve their nutritional quality
• Most of the ANF present below the thresh hold levels
• Abundant sunshine could facilitate prompt drying – in turn, ANF can keep below the thresh hold levels.
• Organization of orientation program to create awareness about novel feed stuffs for production that will fast track animal agriculture in a challenging economy
• Increased local production of alternative nutrient sources from unconventional feed ingredients to eradicate competition for feed and food stuff between the poultry industry and human population
Suggested measures:
• Scientific documentation of unconventional feed could be done
• Identification of more & newer resources could be done
• The maximum and minimum level of incorporation of feed could be suggested
• Identifying the incriminating factors and easy way to eliminate them could be taken care of.
• Supplementation of critical micronutrient which is unavailable
• Biotechnology innovations & processing techniques could be done.
• Adoption of alternative feed resources in poultry nutrition will be a sure way to achieve the strategic plans on suitable animal production for national food security and poverty alleviation.
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Advantages of NCFR:
a) These are end products of production and consumption that have not been used.
b) They are mainly organic and can be in a solid, slurry or liquid form. Their economic value is often very less.
c) Fruit wastes such as banana rejects and pineapple pulp by comparison have sugars which are energetically very beneficial.
d) The feed crops which generate valuable NCFR are excellent sources of fermentable carbohydrates eg. cassava and sweet potato and this is an advantage to ruminants because of their ability to utilize inorganic nitrogen.
e) Concerning the feeds of crop origin, the majority are bulky poor-quality cellulosic roughages with a high crude fibre and low nitrogen contents, suitable for feeding to ruminants.
f) They have considerable potential as feed materials and their value can be increased if they are converted into some usable products.
Agro-industrial by-products
Appropriate use of relatively inexpensive agricultural and industrial by-products is of paramount importance for profitable livestock production. However, high cost and low availability of conventional livestock feedstuffs frequently demand consideration of by-products even if efficiency of utilization is low. Efficient use of by-products relies on their chemical and physical properties, which influence production system outputs. In developing countries, grain, which forms the bulk of concentrate feeds for livestock, is both in short supply and expensive due to direct competition with human food uses.
Natural pasture that is estimated to contribute to 80–90% of livestock feeds and whose quality is seasonally variable is the main source of feed in arid and semi-arid pastoral areas, while crop residues contribute up to 50% of the feed supply in mixed-farming system. Grazing lands are steadily shrinking by conversion to arable lands, and natural pastures are also restricted to areas that are marginal and have little farming potential. The reduction in natural pasture has led to overutilization and domination by undesirable forage species resulting in partial dependence on crop residues by most ruminants, which has reduced livestock productivity. The increasing human demands for several foods (i.e. olive oil, vegetables, wine, fruit juices, etc.) led to a considerable increase of lands occupied by crops producing these feeds. Consequently, huge amounts of agro-industrial by-products are available in numerous developing countries (e.g. molasses, olive cake, winery marc, etc.), which are still not fully utilized in livestock feeding. Most of these AIBPs are low in main nutrients. Moreover, the difficulty of the use of these feed sources as fresh material for extended periods and the lack of efficient ways for their integration in feeding calendars may account for their under-utilization.
NONCONVENTIONAL POULTRY FEEDS
Energy Sources
1. Deoiled salseed-meal: It is a byproduct from processing of Sal fruits for oil. The composition of meal resembles cereals. But its use is very much limited to poultry because of high tannin content.
2. Tapioca-meal : It is obtained from the tubers of tapioca. The meal is a good source of energy. Certain varieties contain gynogenic substances. These can be removed during the processing of tapioca by sun drying or heating.
3. Dried poultry waste: Uncontaminated caged layer dropping is generally high in calcium and phosphorus and contains about 10 to 12 per cent true protein. If treated properly it can be included in the diet up to 10 per cent without any detrimental effect
4. Molasses: May be used to replace cereal grains upto 45% of the ration. Higher percentage produces loose excreta because of high mineral content of molasses.
5. Small millets: Small millets such as kodon and sawan can be used in place of maize up to 20 per cent in the ration. Ragi, kambu and cholam, available in southern India, may also be satisfactorily used to replace maize to an extent of 50 per cent.
Vegetable Protein Sources
1. Mustard-cake: It is superior to groundnut-cake in protein quality and lysine content. Its use in poultry ration is limited because of the presence of glycosides and goitrogens. Even after treatment its use should be limited to 5% in chick and 10% in laying hen diets.
2. Soybean-meal: Soybean contains about 35 to 40% protein and 18 to, 21 % fat. The oil may be removed in several ways. Expeller processing of the beans yielded a meal which contained 42% protein and 5% fat. Suitable heal treatment improves the protein quality of the meal. It is a high-quality vegetable protein rich in lysine, arginine, glycine, tryptophan and cystine. The limiting amino acid is methionine.
3. Sesame-meal: It is a good source of protein supplement and a good source of arginine, methionine and tryptophan, but poor in lysine, cystine and glycine.
4. Clusterbean : It is a byproduct in the manufacture of vegetable gum from the seeds of clusterbean plants. It is rich in protein but its use is limited by residual clusterbean gum and due to the presence of trypsin inhibitor .
5. Sunflower seed-meal: It is superior to groundnut-meal in nutritive value. But because of high fibre content its use is restricted in poultry rations. Compared to soybean-meal it is richer in methionine and arginine but poor in lysine. It is an excellent source of pantothenic acid and niacin .
6. Safflower-meal: It is a good substitute to groundnut-cake up to 25 per cent level in the ration. Lysine deficiency appears to be one of the main limitations in total utilization of this cake.
7. Ramtil-cake : It can replace satisfactorily up to 50 and 100 per cent of groundnut-cake in chicks and layer rations respectively.
8. Cotton-cake: High in protein content but deficient in lysine. It cart be used up to 15 per cent as a substitute for groundnut-cake. Continuous use causes yolk mottling on stored eggs due to the presence of gossypol in the cake.
9. Maize gluten-meal and feed: A byproduct of maize starch industry it is rich in protein and xanthophylls but deficient in lysine, tryptophan and arginine.
10. Penicillin mycelium waste: It is a byproduct from the manufacture of penicillin. It is a good protein source and contains some residual antibiotic activity. It can be used at levels of 5 per cent in the ration.
11. Linseed-meal: It is a good source of tryptophan but contains cyanogenic glycoside and antipyridoxial factor. Cannot be used more than 5% if not processed. The meal can be rendered non-toxic by boiling.
Animal Protein Sources
1. Blood-meal: It contains 80 per cent protein and is rich in lysine, arginine, methionine, cystine and leucine, but deficient in isoleucine. The maximum dietary level of inclusion is not greater than 2 to 3 per cent due to unpalatability and low biological value of its protein.
2. Liver residue-meal : It is a good source of lysine, methionine, cystine and tryptophan, and an excellent source of riboflavin, choline and vitamin B12
3. Silkworm pupae-meal: Deoiled silkworm pupae-meal is a good protein supplement. Because of high fibre content and poor protein digestibility its use is restricted in poultry rations.
4. Hatchery byproduct-meal: This consists of infertile eggs, dead embryos, killed chicks and egg shells collected as waste during hatchery oprations, and have been cooked, dried and grounded with or without removal of part of its fat. It contains approximately 25-34 per cent crude protein depending upon the material that goes into its making.
5. Feather-meal: It contains 80-85 per cent of crude protein and may be used up to 5 per cent level in poultry rations.
6. Poultry byproduct-meal: It is a product from poultry processing plants, and includes heads, feet and entrails. Il must not contain more than 16 per cent ash and no more than traces of feathers. The meal may contain 55 to 60 per cent protein and 12 per cent fat if not extracted.
7. Meat and meat-cum-bone-meal : Besides a good source of high quality protein, it is a good source of calcium and phosphorus. The quality of meal is variable depending upon the processing methods and the proportion of gelatin it contains. The variable quality and content of phosphorus limit the use of these meals to 5 to 10 per cent of the diet.
Conclusion:
Shortage of feedstuffs in the future is an alarming issue at present trends in the poultry industry. A distinctive gap exists between the requirements and supplies of nutrients, the non conventional feeds could partly fill this gap. Presently these by-products are not exploited to the full extent for inclusion in the poultry feed. Seasonal availability, high cost of handling and transportation from the production site to the farm, presence of antinutritional factors. It is essential to increase feeds by growing more fodders, propagating agro and social forestry, improving the nutritive value of crop residues and utilizing other NCFRs. Crop residues, AIBPs and browse foliage are certain an increasingly important role as feeds in the future, as human and livestock populations expand. The maximum and minimum level of incorporation of feed could be suggested. Identifying the incriminating factors and easy way to eliminate them could be taken care of. Supplementation of critical micronutrient which is unavailable. Biotechnology innovations & processing techniques could be done. Adoption of alternative feed resources in poultry nutrition will be a sure way to achieve the strategic plans on suitable animal production for national food security and poverty alleviation.
Source:On request.
