Investigating the Quality of Commercial Beef Cattle Feeds and Feed Ingredients Used in Bangladesh

SAARC J. Agric., 18(1): 197-208 (2020) DOI: https://doi.org/10.3329/sja.v18i1.48393 Research Article INVESTIGATING THE QUALITY OF COMMERCIAL BEEF CATTLE FEEDS AND FEED INGREDIENTS USED IN BANGLADESH M.T. Kamal1, M.A. Hashem1*, M. Al-Mamun2, M.M. Hossain1 M.A. Razzaque3 and J.H. Ritu1 1 Department of Animal Science, Bangladesh Agricultural University Mymensingh-2202, Bangladesh. 2 Department of Animal Nutrition, Bangladesh Agricultural University Mymensingh-2202, Bangladesh. 3 Desert Agriculture and Ecosystem Program, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research Safat 13109, Kuwait ABSTRACT The study was undertaken to evaluate the quality of commercial beef cattle feed and feed ingredients which are available in Bangladesh. For this purpose, chemical analysis and in vitro digestibility (IVD) were estimated for nine commercial feeds and different feed ingredients which were collected from different regions. Chemical analysis of samples was carried out in triplicate for dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), crude fiber (CF), ether extract (EE), ash, acid detergent fiber (ADF) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) content. Metabolizable energy (ME) was calculated mathematically for feed samples by using standard formula. The analysis revealed the difference between the manufacturer’s claim and actual analyzed value. In commercial feeds DM content ranged from 90-92%. While CP content of commercial feeds was either lower or higher than the written value of feed industries. In Provita feed CP content (20.72%) was higher and Care feed had much lower CP content (7.54%) than written value. In vitro digestibility of DM in feed ingredients varied from 18.27 in straw to 75.77% in soybean meal. The fiber component (NDF and ADF) was negatively correlated with IVDMD and CP was positively correlated with IVDMD because fiber rich components were less digestible than the non-fibrous component (protein). Analysis of commercial feed samples revealed that the values claimed by the manufacturers are quite different from the actual analyzed values. This is a matter of concern and needs to be checked through better quality control measures by systematic feed analysis and ensure that manufacturers declare the true composition of the marketed feeds. Keyword: Beef cattle feed, Quality, Chemical analysis, In vitro digestibility (IVD) * Corresponding author: Received: 27.04.2020 Accepted: 10.06.2020 198 Kamal et al. INTRODUCTION In Bangladesh, livestock sector is one of the major components of agricultural activities and plays a crucial role in economic development by ensuring food security and stimulating the growth of a number of subsidiary industries (Goutam et al., 2017). Approximately 64% of the livestock farmers practiced fattening round the year and rest of the farmers followed fattening for period of 3 months; before Eid-ulAdha (Kamal et al., 2019). Malpractice of feed adulteration and use of waste contaminated feeds are common practices in Bangladesh. Feed shortage is the main reason for low productivity of livestock in Bangladesh (Rahman et al., 1998; Baset et al., 2003; Jahan et al., 2018) and at the same time farmers are not able to formulate a balanced ration leading to loss of productivity. To fulfill the requirement of farmer for concentrate feed, commercial feed industries are marketing the branded feeds to cater the market demand. Ideally the role of these industries should be to provide high quality livestock feeds to enhance production by meeting the nutrient requirements of livestock in different stages of growth or production. The recognized feed mills (ACI Godrej, Lal Teer, Care, Gain, Index, Soudia feed, Provita feed etc.) as a marketing strategy display various essential nutrients percentage on the feed package to attract/deceive the farmers. So, a question arises whether the animal feed industries maintain the composition accurately in the feed as mentioned in the package and the feed is free from harmful objects or they attempt to mislead the consumer. Misleading information in the nutritional profile of feed provided by the suppliers erodes the consumer confidence and loss of productivity. The farmers are faced with multiple challenges regarding the poor and inconsistent quality of commercial feeds, limited capital, and insufficient knowledge of nutritive value of commercial feeds (Laswai and Nandonde, 2013). Commercial feed producers tend to sell their feed by exaggerating the nutritional profile of the feed leading to poor production performance of livestock and loss to the farmers. This practice challenges the reliability of commercial feed quality besides effecting the safety of feed in cattle. It is beyond the scope of this research to provide a detailed explanation of nutritional value of manufactured cattle feed and feed ingredients, especially because this is a very specific subject area. Current research will lead to better understanding of the chemical composition of the commercial feeds for beef cattle. Findings of the present study will help the farmers of Bangladesh in understanding the quality of the purchased commercial feeds leading to better feeding. An ideal combination of ingredients in compounded feed ensures rational use of available resources while meeting the nutritional requirements of the animal. So, the approach of compounded feed can be an economic attempt for better feed production as well as increasing productivity and nutritional status of livestock. The ultimate goal of feed analysis is to assess the quality of beef cattle feed through nutrient composition. QUALITY EVALUATION OF COMMERCIAL BEEF CATTLE FEEDS 199 MATERIALS AND METHODS Experimental site The experiment was conducted at Department of Animal Science laboratory and Animal Nutrition Laboratory, BAU, Mymensingh. Collection of samples Nine (9) manufactured beef cattle feed samples (8 concentrate and a total mixed ration) and eleven (11) feed ingredients were collected from different commercial feed mills and feed dealers of Bangladesh. It is important that samples are true representative of the whole that reflects of what livestock farmers are buying. Oven dried samples were ground in a grinding machine (Cyclotec sample mill Tecator, Sweden) by using 1.0 mm sieve for chemical analysis. The ground samples in three replicates of around 250g each were kept in air tight zip lock bag for further chemical analysis. Feed quality (nutritive value) analyses: The samples were analyzed for proximate analysis such as DM (Dry matter), CP (Crude protein) and ash following the method of AOAC (2005). All determination was done in triplicate and the mean value was reported. Acid detergent fiber (ADF) and Neutral detergent fiber (NDF) were determined by following the procedures of Goering and Van Soest (1970). In-vitro study An in-vitro study was conducted to determine the organic matter digestibility (OMD) and metabolizable energy (ME) contents of feedstuffs according to the methods of Menke (...truncated)