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The role of biotechnology in enhancing the digestion of forage cell walls by ruminants (jerry hughes scholarship)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2017

E. R. Deaville
E. R. Deaville*
Affiliation:
Feed Evaluation Unit, ADAS Dairy Research Centre, Drayton, Stratford on Avon, CV37 9RQ, UK
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Extract

The term biotechnology has been defined as the application of biological organisms, systems or processes to manufacture and service industries (Anon, 1980) and is, therefore, more than the application of ‘genetic engineering’ techniques alone. The potential application of biotechnology to the agricultural livestock industry includes many wide ranging areas: animal health; breeding; livestock production; livestock nutrition and the nutritive value of feeds. The role of biotechnology in animal nutrition and feeding is of particular importance since feed costs account for a significant proportion of the total variable costs in any livestock production system (e.g. milk, meat). The potential implications of biotechnology in animal nutrition has been reviewed by Armstrong (1986) and includes references to the improvement of the nutritive value of feeds through, for example, genetic manipulation of feed sources (cereals), appropriate supplementation and the use of biological inoculants with or without enzymes as silage additives and to improvements in the ability of the animal to obtain nutrients from feeds through the addition of enzymes to feeds and modification of rumen microbes through genetic engineering.

Type
Sheep Nutrition
Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science , Volume 1995 , March 1995 , pp. 73
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 1995

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References

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