Pakistan, China join hands in animal feed research

BEIJING: Pakistani PhD scholar at the College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University (CAU), Beijing expressed the hope to enhance Pakistan’s self-reliance in the research of feed additives.

In Pakistan, at least 60 per cent of feed additives are imported from China.

“Through my research and learning in China, I hope to enhance Pakistan’s self-reliance in this regard,” a product manager at the Animal Nutrition Feed Additives Section of Jawad Impex International Lahore Waseem Abbas said.

He has just ended a 14-day seminar on feed formula, organised by the Hunan Agricultural Group, during which he and other 20-odd Pakistani participants, including farmers, students, and scientists learned through an array of courses such as the nutrition requirements on animals, feed formula design, the application and development of fodder in livestock and breeding industry, fodder processing techniques and fodder additives.

“Additives, meal and grains are indispensable parts in feed. On the contrary, they are essential for the balance and sufficiency of nutrition in feed; thus, improving its efficiency and quality, something in dire need in Pakistan,” Abbas told China Economic Net.

According to a research by the University of Illinois, feed costs represent the largest input cost to produce milk (estimated to be 35 per cent to 50 per cent). In Pakistan, the livestock production contributes to over 60 per cent of the total agricultural output value.

Around 10 per cent to 15 per cent commercial farmers and corporates are overall dairy producers and need feed additives to lower their cost, while maximising production.

Around 85 per cent of household farmers are feeding conventional feeds, which are limited to fulfil the nutritional requirement of animals but now the farmers are moving towards modern/balanced feed, which included feed additives to increase its efficacy.

In poultry, similarly, feed additives fulfill adequate nutritional profile for the birds. Following the international practices, additives are commonly used in feed, with vitamin premix, mineral premix, amino acids, enzymes, toxin binders, antioxidants, choline chloride, etc. as the most commonly used feed additive.

But high prices and low efficient quality of feed in Pakistan is constraining the related sectors (meat, milk and egg production) from fully unleashing their potential. For example, soyabean is a major protein source of feed for poultry/dairy. But due to the high prices in Pakistani market complicated by the pandemic-caused cross-border transaction impediment, the people have to turn to less-nutritious ingredients, i.e., vegetables and animal proteins, Abbas said.

“During my study in China, I have visited many large feed producers and found that China is using advanced, innovative techniques and machinery, like pelleting machine and grinders,” he said.

Waseem has co-authored two papers in SCI indexed journals, namely, dietary yeast β-glucan supplementation improves eggshell colour and fertile eggs hatchability, as well as enhances immunity functions in breeder laying hens, and dietary encapsulated essential oils and organic acids mixture improves gut health in broiler chicken challenged with necrotic enteritis.

“[The] poultry feed has a bearing on the income of 1.5 million people in Pakistan. I feel lucky to have the opportunity provided by the Chinese government to learn at State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition from head teacher Professor Guo Yuming and Associated Professor Wang Zhong, both of whom are extraordinary scholars in this field,” he said.

In 2020, China banned the use of antibiotics in feed, as did the European countries, to minimise the harm of the residues of the substance, which if remained uncontrolled, might cause more deaths globally than cancer by 2050.

“We are also working to eliminate the content of antibiotics from feed, as a growth promoter in Pakistan,” Abbas added.

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