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FUTA Don Canvasses Eco-friendly Feed Production, Better Treatment of Livestock


A Professor of Animal Physiology, Reproduction and Biotechnology at the Federal University of Technology Akure, FUTA, Samuel Aro has said that problem of perennial high cost of livestock feed and global environment pollution can be tackled through Bioconversion and valorization of agro-industrial wastes. He stated this while delivering the 172nd Inaugural lecture of the institution on September 10,2024. He said research effort that has been exhaustively employed by researchers at finding a lasting solution to the problems and if findings are adopted it will ensure maximum livestock productivity and a safer and cleaner environment for all.

The don stated that the Nigerian livestock industry has ever continued to wage a lingering war of survival in the face of perennial scarcity and astronomical price of conventional feed ingredients thus through the process of bio-conversion wastes can be transformed into livestock ingredients like cassava peel, cassava chips, cassava stump, cassava starch residue, composite leaf meal, cassava whey and composite sweet orange peel capable of out-competing the very costly imported ingredients.

Professor Samuel Aro said" fermentation of cassava tubers with or without selected microorganisms has the potentials of enhancing the nutritive value of cassava tubers wastes thus opening a vista of opportunities by which these wastes could be converted to wealth. The livestock industry as the major stakeholder could therefore benefit by way of reduced cost of livestock feeds while the environment would also be relieved of the huge volume of waters being discharged into it".

The Lecturer proposed the sensitization of farmers to the importance of bioconversion and value addition in production of animal feeds. According to him this will solve nutritional problems of livestock and also save costs in animal production.In addition , Aro, who titled his lecture, “The Ovum and the Sperm : A Contest of Mutually Inclusive Nudity for Mutual Benefits.” pointed out that farm animals will only give their best in terms of meat , egg, wool, skin and other farm products for economic impact and revenue generation if they are raised in the most conducive environment. He said 'vice behaviors like rough handling or hostile disposition to stock, poor housing and feeding can adversely affect the productive performance of our farm animals and should be avoided.

The notion that these stocks are mere "animals" and therefore could be shabbily treated should be erased from our mentality once and for all. Our environment has a vital role to play in our survival, livability and productivity as biological beings and livestock are not an exemption".
Professor Aro said " livestock owners should know that these stocks we keep have sentience and are therefore able to react to various forms of sensations emanating from their environment and hence display corresponding behavioral tendencies to these environmental stimuli."

The don recommended the urgent deployment of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) protocols to maximize output in terms of livestock numbers and quality in order to sustain the production of animal sourced foods for the ever-increasing human population. In her capacity as Chairman of the occasion, the Vice Chancellor Professor Adenike Oladiji represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academic, Professor Taiwo Amos said the lecture was apt given current economic realities in Nigeria. She commended Professor Aro for the cerebral delivery of the lecture and called on all stakeholders to collectively join hands to improve livestock production for economic advancement in the economy.

The Vice Chancellor described Aro as a consistently productive scholar who has served the university effectively in various capacities and contributed immensely to intellectual discourse and development in his area of specialization.