1. Feed resources of Pakistan for poultry, conventional and non conventional feed resources
Pakistan's livestock population is supported by feed resources derived from the crop sector,
from rangeland and other grazing areas, and from agroindustrial byproducts. The type,
availability and utilization of these feed resources vary greatly in the country's different
agroecological zones. In order of importance, the major feed resources are crop residues (46%),
grazing (27%), cultivated fodders (19%), cereal/legume grains and by-products (6%) and oil
cakes, meals and animal protein (2%).
Most farmers (about 75%) have small land holdings on which most of the livestock population is
concentrated. The smallholders' priority is to grow cereal grain for human consumption, but
these crops also provide straw and stover for their animals. In the case of wheat, the value of
the straw is around 60% of that of the grain. An estimated 40 million t of crop residues are
produced annually in Pakistan, out of which 52.5 and 22% are contributed by wheat and rice,
respectively. Traditionally, cereal straws are fed to cattle and buffalo year-round, but their
proportion in the ration increases during periods of feed scarcity. Treatment of straw with urea
is not commonly practiced by farmers, partly due to weak extension services but mainly
because these technologies appear unsuitable for resource-poor farming systems.
Cultivated fodders are used as cut-and-carry feeds and may include berseem, oats, rape, barley
and sometimes wheat during the winter season, while, maize, sorghum and millet during the
summer season. Most of these crops are ready for harvesting about 2 to 3 months after sowing.
Periods of scarcity occur in May-July and again in November-December. Of the total cultivated
area, only 13% is devoted to fodder crop production. Despite large increases in the ruminant
population (62%) during the past 20 years, the land devoted to fodder crops has declined by
about 17%, with a corresponding increase in land used for food grain production. This has
further increased the dependence of livestock on crop residues and by-products.
Fodder crop yields are very low in traditional farming systems, primarily due to the low use of
inputs by farmers. With improved seed and production technology, they can be increased by up
to 250%. In recent years, farmers have shown great interest in cultivating high-yielding fodder
varieties such as Napier grass, sadabahar (Andropogon gayanus) and multi-cut oats. Fodder
conservation through silage or hay making is not commonly practiced.
Farmers collect weeds and grasses for use as fodder while they tend their cultivated crops. In
addition, the grazing of animals on roadsides and canal banks, and on fallow or unutilized land
is a common practice in most areas. Fodder trees and shrubs also contribute to the overall feed
supply, particularly in hilly areas. In the plains, sugarcane is another major resource, supplying
13.3 million t of tops. Depending on the market price, whole sugarcane plant may be fed to
lactating cattle and buffalo.
Some 24.83 million ha of rangeland contribute about 16% to the total availability of feed dry
matter. In some places, however, rangeland provides about 30% of the total feed supply. Due
to continuous overgrazing and lack of range improvement, carrying capacity and the quality of
2. grasses is deteriorating alarmingly. An exception is the highland grazing areas, but use of these
is constrained by climatic factors and remoteness. Transhumant and pastoral herdsmen, with
their flocks of goats and sheep, are the main users.
The major sources of supplementary feed in Pakistan are by-products from cereal milling and
oilseed production. By-products of animal origin play a minor part. Wheat and rice bran and
rice polishings are the main milling by-products. Cottonseed cake, rapeseed cake and maize oil
cake account for almost two-thirds of the total protein supplement used to feed dairy animals.
Meals of vegetable and animal origin are relatively costly and used only in poultry rations. A
considerable quantity of molasses is produced annually (1.14 million ton per year), but its use in
animal rations is limited, mainly due to alternative uses in distillery, export to other countries
and difficulties in transportation and storage at local level. The introduction of molasses-urea
blocks was tried as a strategy for increasing ruminant production in dry areas, but has not yet
been widely adopted.
Pakistan entered the world market for animal feeds in the early 1970s. By 1991-1992, the
export of animal feed ingredients (oil cakes and cereal brans) to West Asian countries was
fetching US$ 5.73 million annually. In 1993-1994, however, these exports fell sharply to US$
0.486 million.
Soyabean meal is the major feed imported, used for manufacturing compound poultry feed.
The country has 215 poultry feed mills, but only five mills producing compound feed for
ruminants. Generally, mixed concentrate feeds for ruminants are prepared at home by farmers.
It has been calculated that the nutrients available under the present pattern of feed utilization
do not meet the requirements of Pakistan's existing livestock population. There appear to be
deficiencies of 39.4% of the TDN and 56.7% of the pop requirements. There is a growing trend
towards the establishment of more intensive dairy cattle and buffalo production systems in
pert-urban areas, while intensification in the poultry sector has been well under way since
1970.
Non-conventional feed resources (NCFR):
The non-conventional feed resources (NCFR) refer to all those feeds that have not been
traditionally used in animal feeding and or are not normally used in commercially produced
rations for livestock. Commonly, a variety of feeds from perennial crops and feeds of animal
and industrial origin.
The term NCFR has been frequently used to describe such new sources of feedstuffs as palet oil
mill effluent and palm press fibre (oil palm by-products), single cell proteins, and feed material
derived from agro industrial by-products of plant and animal origin. 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.
3. Need of Non-conventional feed resources:
There are serious shortages in animal feeds of the conventional type. The grains are required
almost exclusively for human consumption. With 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. The availability of feed
resources and their rational utilization for livestock represents possibly the most compelling
task facing planners and animal scientists in the world. The situation is acute in numerous
developing countries where chronic annual feed deficits and increasing animal populations are
common, thus making the problem a continuing saga.
Thus 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. It is therefore imperative to examine for cheaper
non-conventional feed resources that can improve intake and digestibility of low quality
forages. Feedstuffs such as fish offal, duckweed and kitchen leftovers (i.e., potato peel, carrot
peel, onion peel, and cabbage leftover), poultry litter, algae/Spirulina, Leucaena leaf, local
brewery and distillery by-products, sisal waste, cactus, coffee parchment and coffee pulp are
commonly used in India, and could be invaluable feed resources for small and medium size
holders of livestock.
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
4. 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.
MAJOR BY-PRODUCTFEEDS FROM TREE AND CROPS
5. MINOR BY-PRODUCT FEEDS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES
FEEDING OF POULTRY
Feeding constitutes the fundamental and major management concern in poultry production
since major expenditure (60-70%) in poultry rising is feed cost. Efficiency in feeding therefore is
one of the key factors for successful poultry production. More than 40 nutrients are required by
the poultry. They can be arranged into six classes according to their chemical nature, functions
they perform and the ease with which they are chemically determined.
Feed Ingredients
Conventional poultry rations usually include many cereals like maize, rice, wheat, oat, barley;
and a few cereal byproducts such as wheat-bran or rice polish, animal and vegetable protein
sources like fish-meal, meat-meal, soybean-oil-meal, groundnut-cake, etc. according to their
6. availability. The whole ration is fortified with adequate minerals and vitamins either in
chemically pure or through ingredients known to be rich in these nutrients.
With the cost of feed soaring high and the availability of conventional ingredients becoming
scarce, intensive and continuous efforts are being made to determine the nutritive value of
agro industrial byproducts to replace more costly ingredients in poultry rations. The following
are some of the common feedstuffs used for making poultry rations in this country.
Conventional Poultry Feeds
1. Maize: It is highly digestible and contains very little fibre. It is used as a source of energy
and is low in protein, especially lysine, and sulphur-containing amino acids. The yellow
varieties are a good source of vitamin A and xanthophyll. The latter is responsible for
the yellow skin in certain breeds of fowl.
2. Barley: Barley is not very palatable because of its high fibre content and should not
constitute more than 15 per cent of the ration.
3. Oat: Oat is not very palatable because of its high fibre content. It should not constitute
more than 20 per cent of the ration. Because of its manganese content, it may help in
preventing hock disorders, feather pulling and cannibalism.
4. Wheat: Wheat can be used for replacing maize as a source of energy.
5. Wheat bran: It is bulky and quite laxative on account of its high fibre, manganese and
phosphorus content.
6. Pearl millet: This is a very useful feedstuff, similar to wheat in its nutritive value.
7. Rice: Broken grains of rice can be used for replacing maize.
8. Rice polish: This is a very good substitute for cereal grains and can be used up to 50 per
cent of the ration. Because of the high oil content, it is likely to become rancid on
storage under warm conditions.
9. Deoiled rice polish: Energy content of deoiled rice polish is low because of the removal
of fat, but it is rich in protein and ash content.
10. Sorghum: The feeding value of sorghum is similar to that of maize. But it has a higher
protein content, quite palatable and maybe used in place of maize. Sorghum-meal is a
good source of some amino acids, but costlier than other oilcakes.
11. Groundnut-cake: It is quite palatable and is widely used as a source of protein in poultry
rations. It contains about 40 per cent protein.
12. Fish-meal: Fish-meal is one of the best poultry feedstuffs as a source of animal protein.
Its composition varies widely depending upon whether it is made from whole bony fish
or fish cannery scraps. Most Indian fish-meals contain 45 to 55 per cent protein. The
presence of fish scales reduces its feeding value.
13. Limestone: Limestone is a source of calcium. It should not contain more than 5 per cent
magnesium.
14. Oyster-shell: Oyster-shell contains more than 38 per cent calcium, and is a good
substitute for limestone. It is quite palatable.
8. Rubber Rubber seed meal
Sal Sal seed cake
Tamarind
Tamarind seed hulls
Tamarind seed cake
Conclusion
The main reason for the poor animal production is the inadequate supply and low level of
feeding due to serious shortage of feedstuffs. A major gap exists between the requirements
and supplies of nutrients for feeding of animal, the non conventional feeds could partly fill this
gap. More information is required on chemical composition, nutritive value and their utilization.
Farmers are not aware of the nutritive value of some feed sources and the way for their
efficient integration in livestock feeding. The involvement of local extension agencies in
technology development for efficient use of NCFR, assessment and transfer is equally
important. Several factors may account for their limited use, among which is their low nutritive
value, Seasonal availability, high cost of handling and transportation from the production site to
the farm, presence of anti-nutritional 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.
