Sun-Dried Sugarcane Press Mud Could be a Prospective Feedstuff for Swine Production

Abstract

This study identified sugarcane press mud (SPM)—a by-product of sugarcane industry—as a possible feedstuff for pig production. Crossbred (Landrace × Desi) piglets (n = 28) were randomly allocated to four similar dietary groups of seven (four females and three males) each. The resulting treatments were: control (T0) diet with no inclusion of sun-dried SPM (SSPM) and diets T1, T2 and T3 contained SSPM at a level of 5, 10 and 15%, respectively, partially replacing maize, de-oiled soya bean meal and wheat bran. Performance traits such as feed intake, nutrient digestibility, immune response and economics of feeding were recorded until attaining marketable body weight (BW) of 80 ± 5 kg. Isonitrogenous and isocaloric diets were formulated for three different stages of pigs based on BW like weaner (10–20 kg; 60–75 days), grower (20–50 kg; 76–135 days) and finisher (50–80 kg; 136–195 days). A 7-day digestion trial was conducted during the grower stage. Results demonstrated that intake and total tract digestibilities of all major nutrients did not differ across treatments, except crude fibre intake, which was greater (P < 0.05) for groups T2 and T3. Intake and absorption of calcium (as % of intake) were higher (P < 0.01) for group T3 than other groups. Cell-mediated immune response did not vary among all dietary groups. Furthermore, mean body measurements (length, weight, heart girth and flank-to-flank length), average daily gain, feed conversion ratio and feed cost/kg BW gain were similar among all the groups with an additional comparative savings of INR 5.25/kg gain noted in group T3 than T0. Lastly, SSPM was found most economical in delivering unit protein and energy among all other conventional ingredients used in the experimental diets. In totality, these novel results suggested that SSPM could be formulated safely in the diets for swine at 15% without any detrimental consequences on performance measures, thereby concluding SSPM to be a prospective feedstuff for profitable pig production.