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Abstract - The experiment was conducted at An Giang University, Viet Nam where the annual temperature during the experiment ranged from 27 to 38°C. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of method of processing cassava leaves on the intake, apparent digestibility and nitrogen retention by indigenous piglets of diets based on broken rice. Four indigenous piglets of 8.3 to 9.7 kg and 3 months of age were used in the experiment. They were housed in individual bamboo cages and allocated to two treatments according to a single changeover design. The treatments were cassava leaves given ad libitum in fresh or wilted form as supplements to a basal diet of broken rice fed at the rate of 2% (DM) of live weight.

The actual intakes of cassava leaves and total DM were similar between the two treatments (P>0.05). Total dry matter intake was rather low in the range from 2.6 to 2.8% of body weight. The cassava leaves represented from 24 to 27.4 % of the total diet dry matter, providing about 50% of the total dietary protein. HCN levels were reduced by wilting the cassava leaves (from 269 to 42 mg/kg DM). Average values for DM, OM and N digestibility were 89.1, 89.7 and 73.9% for the diet with fresh cassava leaves, and for the diet with wilted cassava leaves, 90.9, 91.7 and 76.6%, and did not differ between treatments (P>0.05). There was no treatment effect (P>0.05) on N retention (1.93 and 2.16g/day for fresh and wilted cassava leaves). Nitrogen retention as percent of N intake and N digested were not significantly affected (P>0.05) by processing of cassava leaves. There was no significant difference between treatments in the feeding behaviour of the piglets (P>0.05).

Based on the results of this research it was concluded that fresh cassava leaves can safely be fed to growing pigs at levels up to about 25% of the diet. The HCN content in the fresh leaves did not appear to be a constraint as there was no advantage in wilting the leaves which reduced by six-fold the level of HCN.

Key words : Ba Xuyen, broken rice, cassava leaves, HCN, digestibility, intake, nitrogen balance, pigs, wilting.

Reference : Nguyen Duy Quynh Tram and Preston T R 2004: Effect of method of processing cassava leaves on intake, digestibility and N retention by Ba Xuyen piglets. Livestock Research for Rural Development. Vol. 16, Art. #80. Retrieved October 9, 104, from http://www.cipav.org.co/lrrd/lrrd16/10/tram16080.htm