Sustainable Poultry Nutrition: Challenges and Opportunities

V. RavindranMassey University, Palmerston North

NEW ZEALAND

Agenda

• Why sustainability is becoming important?• Future growth in population and food demand

• Role of nutrition in sustainable animal production

• to improve the efficiency of nutrient use

• Focus on raw materials and feed additives • to improve digestion and reduce excretion

• Some take-home messages

It was the best of times,It was the worst of times ….

A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens (1859)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Mill

ion

Tons

Source: FAO

World Animal Protein Production, 1961-2007

Pork

PoultryBeef

Farmed Fish

Sheep and Goats

THE FUTURE Challenges = Opportunities

Why sustainability is a critical issue?

• Increasing demand for animal products, despite limited global resources

• The need to sustain the natural resource base

• Public demands sustainability• Also attractive to the industry

• Nutrition and sustainability• Improved efficiency of nutrient use• Lower nutrient excretion

Sustainable animal

nutrition

Environment(incl. climate)

Food safety

Welfare

Food vs. Fuel vs. Feed

Natural feeding

(e.g. Antibiotic-free)

;p

Raw materialsA decade of volatility

Sustainable strategies # 1

New and non-traditional raw materials

• New raw materials– Dried Distillers Grain Solubles (DDGS)– Algae, insects, single cell protein

• Increasing the use of non-traditional materials Example: sorghum, rice bran, palm kernel meal– By using feed enzymes, crystalline amino acids– Efficient feed formulation on digestible amino acid

basis

• New raw materials– Dried Distillers Grain Solubles (DDGS)– Algae, insects, single cell protein

• Increasing the use of non-traditional materials Examples: sorghum, rice bran, cassava, palm kernel meal

– By using feed enzymes, crystalline amino acids– Efficient feed formulation on digestible amino acid

basis

Sustainable strategies # 2

Reduce nutrient excretion – by improving utilization

Efficiency of nutrient utilization - Broilers

• Dry matter – 70%• Gross energy – 75%• Nitrogen – 55%• Phosphorus – 45%

If we can improve the nutrient retention

– Less manure output– Less nutrients in manure– Improved feed conversion

Improving Nutrient Utilisation

Feed additives

Additives of interest

In-feed antibiotic replacers

Crystalline amino acids

Feed enzymes

Feed enzymes

Feed enzymes and sustainability

Through enhanced nutrient digestion

Reduced variability between batches

Remove inclusion

constraints of some

ingredients

Increase the range of

ingredients Improved gut morphology and gut flora

profile

Improved GUT

HEALTH

Feed enzymes and sustainability

Through enhanced nutrient digestion

ENVIRONMENT Reduced manure

and nutrient output

WELFARELower incidence

of wet litter (NSP enzymes)

Better uniformity of animals at market time

Immune responses?

Major feed enzyme groups

Microbial phytases

Enzymes for viscous cereals

Enzymes for non-viscous

cerealsEnzymes for non-cereals

Enzymes for corn-soy diets

The original phytase - Natuphos®

↓ Less phosphorus, amino acids and minerals in feed formulations↑ Nutrient utilization↓up to 60% reduction in the excretion of phosphorus and other minerals↓Dependency of inorganic phosphates

Phytase use will increase in the future

Inorganic Phosphate Supply

Declining and Non-renewable

Cheap inorganic phosphates – a thing of the past

Microbial phytase will have a key role in minimising the vulnerability of agriculture to global P shortage

Crystalline amino acids

– Better use of feed resources– To avoid over-formulation and precisely meet

amino acid requirements

– To improve protein retained by the animal

– To lower dietary protein levels

– ↓ ammonia emission– ↓ nitrogen in the manure

Antibiotic-free nutrition

• Competitive exclusion• Probiotics• Prebiotics

• Acidifiers• Essential oils• Plant extracts• Feed enzymes

Numerous studies and exhaustive reviews None are currently standard inclusion in poultry diets, except

feed enzymes ‘

– To be accepted, they must consistently improve animal performance

– None, on their own, are capable of fully replacing antibiotics

– Also more costly than conventional antibiotic programs

– In addition to the alternatives, good nutritional and husbandry strategies are important

Efficient use of nutrients = more sustainable animal production

• The big picture• World population is growing

• Trends• Demand for animal products continues to rise• Challenges = Opportunities

• Pressing issues• Sustainable and efficient use of resources• Impact on environment and climate

• Challenges/ opportunities• Accessing RAW MATERIALS will be the major challenge• Improving animal EFFICIENCY should be the target• Future decisions will be shaped not only by science and

economics, but also by societal issues

The kind of thinking that got uswhere we are today

is not going to take us where we want to be in 2050