Application of cassava in animal feed
Cassava is widely used in most tropical
areas for feeding pigs, cattle, sheep and poultry. Dried peels
of cassava roots are fed to sheep and goats, and raw or boiled
roots are mixed into a mash with protein concentrates such
as maize, sorghum, groundnut or oil palm kernel meals and
mineral salts for livestock feeding.
In many tropical regions, the leaves and
stems of the cassava plant are considered a waste product.
However, analytical tests have proved that the leaves have
a protein content equivalent to that of alfalfa (about 17-20
percent). Feeding experiments also showed that dehydrated
cassava leaves are equivalent in feed value to alfalfa. Imports
of dehydrated alfalfa in the Far East, mainly in Japan, have
reached about 240 000 tons a year. Therefore, a large potential
exists for the exportation of dehydrated stems and leaves
of cassava.
In Brazil, Thailand and many parts of
Southeast Asia, large quantities of cassava roots, stems and
leaves are chopped and mixed into silage for the feeding of
cattle and pigs. This use of cassava is increasing.
The highly developed compound animal-feed
industry uses dried cassava roots as an ingredient, and large
quantities of cassava chips, pellets and meal are used. The
composition of a compound animal feed varies according to
the animal (cattle, pigs or poultry) as well as to the kind
of production (dairy, meat or eggs).
| Application
of tapioca |
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