Improved diet

Palm oil seeds are being used to feed poultry © oneVillage Initiative

A study carried out by the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD, Cameroon) has revealed that oil palm slurry, an agricultural waste generally disposed of in the natural environment, can be used as a partial replacement for maize in broiler chicken feed, thereby reducing feed costs. Maize normally constitutes 90% of broiler feed, but is becoming more and more expensive on the Cameroonian market. In order to achieve high growth rates, researchers advise farmers to substitute 7% of the maize component with oil palm slurry, in making feed for 20 to 50-day-old chickens. With this diet, broiler chickens gain nearly three times more weight than chickens fed with traditional feed and their fat levels remains normal. At the same time, farmers reduce their feed costs for broiler chickens in final stage of growth by 17%. This is good news for poultry farming in Cameroon, a sector that every year has to face a shortage of maize, due to constantly rising demand.

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