Effect of Inclusion of Guava (Psidium guajava) Pomace in Pig Diets on Growth Performance, Nutrient Utilization and Carcass Characteristics Rao T. Madhava, Ravi A.*, Rao D. Srinivasa, Prasad J. Rama1, Reddy P. Sudhakara2, Rao Z. Prabhakara1 All India Co-coordinated Research Project on Pigs Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University Tirupati-517 502, India. *Reprint request: Dr. A. Ravi, Tel: +91-877-2248948; E-mail: arunachalamravi@yahoomail.com
Present address: 1Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary Science, Tirupati-517-502, India. 2Department of Livestock Production and Management, College of Veterinary Science, Tirupati-517 502, India. Abstract Twenty four crossbred (Large White Yorkshire x Desi) male pigs (20.52 ± 0.22 kg) were divided into four equal groups and fed on diets containing sun dried guava (Psidium guajava) pomace at 0 (D1), 10 (D2), 20 (D3) and 30 (D4) per cent levels in grower (20–35 kg live weight) and finisher (35–60 kg live weight) diets. The digestibility of all the organic nutrients and cell wall constituents were significantly decreased during grower phase while in the finisher phase there was a significant (P < 0.05) increase in the digestibility of DM, NDF and hemi-cellulose. The CP digestibility was significantly decreased during both the phases. The N-retention (g/d) was not significantly affected during both the phases of feeding. There was a nonsignificant decrease in the average daily gain (ADG) while the feed/kg gain was significantly (P < 0.05) increased during grower phase. During the finisher phase, significantly (P < 0.01) higher ADG was observed in pigs fed on D3 (371g) or D4 (375g) than those fed on D1 (316g) or D2 (323g) while the feed/kg gain was 5.92, 5.76, 5.58 and 6.11 for diets D1 to D4, respectively and the differences were not significantly different. For the overall growth phase, the pigs fed on D3 and D had taken fewer (P < 0.01) number of days with significantly higher (P < 0.01) ADG than those fed on D1 or D2. The cost of feed (Rs./kg) gain was 31.84, 31.43, 30.75 and 32.69 for diets D1 to D4, respectively and was not significantly different. There were no significant differences among the treatments in the carcass characteristics. It is concluded that inclusion of sun dried guava pomace up to 30 per cent in diets of crossbred pigs had not significantly affected the growth performance and the carcass characteristics. Top Key words Crossbred pigs, Guava pomace, Growth, Nutrient utilization, Carcass traits. Top |