Economic Importance of Kenaf Seed as Alternative Feed Resource in Micro Livestock Production: A Review

Abstract

Feed supply has remained a major constraint in animal production due to an ever-increasing cost of conventional feedstuff occasioned by the competition between man and animals for cereal grains. There is need to harness the potential of the numerous agro-industrial by-products and the so-called wastes as part of replacing them for expensive feedstuffs. This necessitated for the utilization of kenaf grains and leaf in the diet of micro–livestock. The cost of conventional feedstuffs coupled with high demand for grains for human consumption has stimulated interest in the use of non-conventional, readily available, and cheaper source of feedstuffs. Use of kenaf by-product in other livestock with an impressive result has been recorded without any deleterious effect on the experimental animals. Kenaf is an annual or biennial herbaceous short-lived plant belongs to family malvaceae and is usually considered as a fiber crop, primarily used for rope, twine, coarse cloth and paper. Hence, kenaf grains and leaf could be used as alternative feed resource for micro-livestock.