POTENTIAL OF MULBERRY FOR ANIMAL
PRODUCTION
The urgent need
for a high quality feed for animals in the tropics and the excellent
characteristics of mulberry are the justification for the great enthusiasm for
its intensive cultivation and use of feed supplement for animals and mini
livestock like snails.
The
nutritional quality of locally produced mulberry leaves is equivalent to that
of grain based concentrates thus, they are an ideal supplement in most forage
diets.
The
nutritive value of mulberry leaves becomes greater in inverse proportion to
animal size, since metabolic rate and hence nutrient requirements decrease in size. Mulberry leaves should be
the preferred feed for guinea pigs, rabbits, and perhaps snails, (Oviedo et
al., 1994). Many more excellent results are to be expected when mulberry is
offered to other herbivores small species in particular. .
In
Costa Rica, liveweight gains of bulls belonging to the Romosinuano breed (a
criollo type) fed elephant grass, increased to over 900g/day when mulberry was
offered as a supplement at 1.7% of their body weight on dry matter basis.
Growing
Zebu and Brown Swiss steers being fed increasing levels of mulberry as
supplement to a sorghum silage diet, showed good growth rate.
Although the
growth rates with the highest mulberry level are not impressive (195g/day) most
likely due to poor quality of the silage a combination of mulberry and
trichantera gigantea leaves as the protein source and blocks made of molasses,
cassava root meal and rice brans as the energy source gives better reproduction
and growth performance than a diet of commercial concentrates and grass
supplement. In conclusion, mulberry leaves provides enough nutrients for
maintenance.
COMPOSITION AND NUTRITIVE VALUE
OF MULBERRY PLANT
Mulberry plant is a perennial plant,
usually cultivated as mono crop for its leaf to rear silk worms (Gunase khar et
al., 1998). The chemical composition
of mulberry leaves has been studied by many authors. The crude protein content
in leaves varies from as low as 15% to 28% depending on the variety, age of the
leaves and growing conditions. In general, crude protein values can be
considered similar to most legume forages. Machii (1989) reported that the
protein quality of mulberry leaf is comparable to that of soya bean meal.
Fibre
fractions are low in mulberry leaves compared to other foliages. Shayo (1997)
reported lignin (acid detergent lignin) contents of 8. 1% and 7. 1% for leaves
and barks respectively. A striking feature of mulberry leaves is the mineral
content, with ash values up to 25%. Typical calcium contents are around
1.8-2.4% and phosphorous 0.14-0.24%. Espinoza et al. (1999) found potassium
values of 1.90- 2.8% in the leaves and 1.33-1.53% in young stems. The essential
amino acids are over 46% of the total amino acid in mulberry. The average
nitrogen (N) is 16.6% of the total molecular weight of the mulberry amino acids
(Plus ammonia). Mulberry leaves contain 1130 kcal -2240kcal of metabolisable
energy and absence of anti- nutritional factors (Omar et al., 2006)
OTHER POSTS ON AGRICULTURE
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