Cassava foliage good as Feed for carabao – Study

When detoxified, cassava foliage (CSF) is good as feed for animals.

As has long been scientifically established, cassava ahs a toxic hydrocyanic acid (HNC), which has been limiting is use in animal feeding.

Earlier studies had focused on the use of cassava tuber (root) as carbohydrate food source by humans, as animals feed, and for other industrial purposes. It has been reported that chopping, followed by sun-drying, can effectively detoxify the tubers.

However, cassava foliage as animal feed has not been fully studied, prompting the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) in Ubay, Bohol, to conduct a research titled "Processing of cassava (Manihot esculenta) foliage as a feed for water buffalo."

The researchers – C.B. Salces, B.A. Hingpit, D.B. Roxas, U.M. Lustria, S.S. Capitan, I.M. Pabua yon, and F.E. Merca – evaluated the biological and economic potentials of CSF processing and utilization as feed for carabao.

Analysis, according to the DA-BAR, showed that fresh CSF contained HCN ranging from 86 to 186 parts per million (ppm) (fresh basis).

Wilting or drying reduced the HCN content below biologically acceptable level of 80 ppm (dry basis) for low and medium HCN varieties but not for high HCN varieties, which was reduced only by ensiling (storing in a silo).

Buffaloes fed with different levels of ensiled CSF showed that average daily gain increased from 0.74 kg in the control animals (0 percent CSF) to 0.86 kg in the experimental animals (50% CSF in roughage).

Comparative income analysis of different cassava-based production systems showed that income increased from P15.360 in cassava without defoliation to P22,160 in cassava with defoliation and P36,775 for cassava with livestock integration.

"Therefore, income in cassava-based farming can be maximized by livestock integration," the researchers said. – Rudy A. Fernandez