The world’s poorest people, some one billion, depend on livestock for their day-to-day livelihood: food, fibre, manure, draught power, transport, ready source of cash, etc. However, livestock production in many developing countries is constrained because of poor nutrition. Because of climatic conditions, animal feeds are in short supply and what is available is of poor quality. The problem is particularly critical during the dry season when farmers may suffer great animal losses. Furthermore, there is a lack of and/or limited use of commercial concentrate feeds e.g. soybean, cottonseed and groundnut meals, etc because the resource poor farmers cannot afford them. The problem is also being exacerbated by the decreasing availability of arable land because of the rapidly increasing human population, soil/land degradation, urbanization and effects of global warming. Furthermore, methane production from ruminants fed poor quality diets such as straw and stover is higher than those from animals fed better quality forages. The increased concentration of greenhouse gases (e.g. methane) in the troposphere has been implicated in climate change and global warming. Reducing methane emission from ruminant animals therefore has implications not only for efficient animal production but also for global environmental protection. Recent research is showing that supplementing livestock diets with fibre degrading enzymes can improve the efficiency of feed utilization, resulting in improved animal performance and a reduction of methane emissions. This CRP which is an activity under the project 2.1.2.1: Integrated management of animal nutrition, reproduction and health, aims to improve the efficiency of using locally available feed resources to improve livestock production while protecting the environment.
To improve efficiency of utilizing locally available feed resources including tree and shrub leaves, agro-industrial by-products and other lesser-known and/or new plants adapted to the harsh conditions or capable of growing in poor, marginal and degraded soils.
a) To determine the effects of supplementing livestock diets with enzymes on (i) fibre degradation in vitro, in situ and in vivo, (ii) feed intake and digestibility, (iii) ruminal fermentation, microbial protein synthesis, and enteric methane production, and (iv) on milk production and composition and/or growth performance.
b) To determine the mode of action, the critical enzymatic activities and application method and rates needed to elicit the desired response.
c) To determine the effects of supplementing livestock diets with enzymes on animal performance and enteric methane production.
d) To build capacity in developing countries on the use of nuclear and related technologies to improve livestock productivity and to create opportunities for research collaboration internationally.
Standardised protocols, tools and methodologies for characterising enzyme activities, enzyme treatments of feeds and forages and for animal nutrition research and practices under diversified production systems were developed and distributed. A good number of publications (n=30) and trained personnel (20 students and 10 research contract holders) supported a substantial human resources development in Members States who will continue contributing to planning and conduction of animal nutrition researches, data analysis and interpretation and preparation and publication of research articles and their public presentations.
Using stable isotope (carbon -13) and molecular analysis (PCR amplification of 16S rRNA gene and DNA sequencing) it was reported that methane production depends on the presence of methanogenic bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract. Isotope techniques like nitrogen-15 was used to estimate microbial protein synthesis. Results will serve as a basis for enzyme supplementation of livestock feed for optimisation and better utilisation local feeds resources to increase livestock productivity.