Importance of Moringa in livestock feeding

Pashu Sandesh, 16th June 2020

Hunny Sharma¹, Ravi Prakash Pal², Srobana Sarkar³, Amit Sharma⁴ and Gopal Kedare⁵

India is a country with the second-highest population in the world after China. Among all the expenses of the dairy production system, feed is the most significant factor. Due to the scarcity of conventional feed ingredients (grains, cereals and oil cakes) for dairy production and their higher cost in various parts of the world. It is, therefore, necessary to evaluate other unconventional forage resources due to the constant cost of commercial concentrates. Nowadays, tree parts and shrubs, such as Azadirachta indica, Leucaena leucocephala, Morus albus and Acacia karroo as an alternate source of feeds for many livestock species is becoming increasingly recognized especially when the cost is so high or the source of dietary protein is restricted. But the use of these forage trees and shrubs is limited because of the presence of anti-nutritional factors like mimosine, alkaloids, tannins and cyanogenic compounds.

Moringa oleifera (M. oleifera) is a multipurpose perennial leafy tree native to the Himalayan region that produces high biomass in a short period and is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical areas around the world. Advantages of Moringa oleifera includes a low requirement of maintenance in late stages, the reduced necessity of fertilizers, drought-tolerant and can be harvested multiple times in the same season. Almost every part of this plant is edible and used as a rich source of food and is used for improvement in nutrition and to boost food security in developing countries. It is evident that different parts of Moringa oleifera particularly leaves have saponins, tannins, polyphenols and polysaccharides demonstrating antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory actions. In recent years it has been increasingly considered as an alternative for feeding animals with regards to its nutritional composition because its leaves are a rich source of vitamins A and C, calcium, potassium, iron and proteins. Moringa oleifera leaves may be fed fresh or after drying and there was no deterioration in the nutritive value on storage. The low degradability of Moringa olifera protein in the rumen due to binding with tannins increasing feed intake and protein flow to the small intestine of the host. Feeding of Moringa oleifera has been found to increase milk production when dairy cows are offered dried or fresh leaves and soft twigs. Increased milk production is a result of increased feed intake and enhanced nutrient digestibility and ruminal fermentation. Apart from the increase in milk yield, it was found that milk fatty acid profile was significantly affected by supplementation of Moringa leaf meal. This enhanced production performance was due to the considerable amounts of secondary metabolites in Moringa oleifera, which were also used as a potential feed additive to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emission of ruminants.

 The potential for using Moringa as animal feed is still underappreciated. It is a tree with a high CP content, varying from 179 to 268 g per kg DM and with negligible amounts of tannins, trypsin and amylase inhibitors. Therefore, Moringa leaf meal (MLM) is an interesting product as it can be produced during periods of high yields and later used for feeding during the dry season when high-quality feed resources are scarce.

Hunny Sharma¹, Ravi Prakash Pal², Srobana Sarkar³, Amit Sharma⁴ and Gopal Kedare⁵

^1,5Ph.D. Scholar, Animal Nutrition Division, NDRI, Karnal, Haryana

⁴Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Nutrition, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, Punjab, 141004, India.

² Teaching Associate, Department of Animal Nutrition, Nanaji Deshmukh Veterinary Science University, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, 482001, India.

³Scientist, Animal Nutrition Division, ICAR-Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute, Avikanagar, Rajasthan, 304501, India.