Tables of nutritive value for farm animals in tropical and Mediterranean regions: an important asset for improving the use of local feed resources

Abstract

The demand for livestock products has been growing steadily in emerging and developing countries, and this requires a better knowledge of available animal feeds. However, in these countries, available information is either obsolete or about temperate feedstuffs. The project \"Tables of nutritive values for farm animals in tropical and Mediterranean regions\" led by INRA, CIRAD and AFZ (and supported by FAO) aims to create an updated and comprehensive set of datasheets for more than 700 fodders and raw materials. The datasheets provide information on physical descriptions, feed availability and environmental impact, as well as feeding recommendations and nutritional values of local feedstuffs for the main farm animal species. The first goal of the project is to better identify and characterize local feed resources in order to improve the technical and economic performance of farms. Nutrition modelling, collaboration between research teams and identification of gaps in knowledge are part of the scientific objectives. The datasheets are created by a group of 20 scientists and engineers, who rely on a massive collection of scientific literature and experimental data to write qualitative and quantitative syntheses (via methods such as meta-analysis) and build representative and consistent tables of composition and nutritional values. The publication of the datasheets is due in 2013, first as a website (www.feedipedia.org) and later as a book.