The potential of agro-industrial byproducts as feeds
for livestock in Lebanon

Abstract

Grazing systems in semi-arid areas offer only limited potential for intensification, and livestock production is becoming increasingly crop-based. A number of agro-industrial byproducts are available for animal feeding. Crop residues along with agro-industrial byproducts can play an important role in the feeding of sheep and goats under different management systems. 

A survey was conducted at more than 30 factories covering the major agro-industries in Lebanon to identify and quantify the potential byproducts generated by the agro-industrial sector. The total amount generated by the surveyed factories revealed that large amounts of byproducts are being wasted. In fact, about 90 % of these byproducts are available all year round. An estimation of the total nutritional quantity and quality of byproducts revealed a significant potential for their use as livestock feeds thus cutting down on the important feed deficit in Lebanon. 

Key words:  Byproducts, livestock, nutritive value

Introduction 

The importance of roughage as a feed resource is decreasing at the expense of cereals and agro-industrial byproducts (Steinfeld et al 1998). Food crops leave a variety of residues (straws, stalks, leaves etc.) that are utilized for animal feeding. Poor quality roughage comprises the only part of the diet for ruminant animals in most Middle East countries, for a considerable part of the year. Animals on such diets are on negative energy balance and supplementary feeding with energy and nitrogen has been used for improving the nutritional status of animals (Capper et al 1989, Hadjipanayiotou et al 1975). 

A number of agro-industrial byproducts are also available for animal feeding (Qureshi 1987). Although they constitute the main feed resources, in many developing countries (Qureshi 1993), they are not reported in statistical series of any country in the region (Nordblom and Shomo 1995). 

Crop residues and agro-industrial byproducts can play an important role in the feeding of sheep and goats under different management systems. Such residues can supply a substantial part of the maintenance requirements of small ruminants in the Asian region (Jayasuriya 1985).   

Agro-industrial byproducts are abundant in Lebanon. A study conduced in 1973 revealed the following byproducts: Wheat bran, Dried beet pulp, Beet molasses, Citrus pulp, Citrus molasses, Carob pulp, Dried whey, Tomato pulp, Spent grains, Olive pulp and Leftovers from canning industries for a total quantity of 60,651 tons (IFAD 1991). During the last two decades, the agro-industrial sector has grown and developed into a major sector with a total of 359 enterprises, as estimated by the Arabic Union of Agro-industries (Jaber 1996). 

Nevertheless, new information on the quantity and availability of these byproducts is scarce. In addition, although many neighboring countries, in the region, adopted and developed techniques for incorporating these byproducts in feed-blocks for livestock production, the latter has not been yet introduced to Lebanon. In this study, agro-industrial byproducts were surveyed to identify potential byproducts for animal feed and to quantify its potential in terms of nutritional quality and quantity. 

Methodology 

According to the study conducted by the Arabic Union of food industries, the food industry sector in Lebanon includes around 360 factories. Each sector consists of several sub-sectors (Table 1). Under this study, a survey was conducted to identify and quantify the potential byproducts generated by the agro-industrial sector. A total of 30 factories were randomly included in the survey to represent a total of 230 medium to large factories from the sample of 15 industries according to the relative importance and the size of the factory. 

A detailed questionnaire was designed to provide basic information of kind and quantity of product produced, seasonal distribution of production schedule and byproduct kind, quantity and management. Data generated from the survey were to provide information on byproduct quality, quantity and its availability during the season. In addition, nutritional potential of these by-products in terms of protein, fiber and metabolic energy was also evaluated.  

Results and discussion 

The survey conducted in 1997 - 1998 revealed the major potential byproducts in Lebanon. A summary of all potential byproducts with their relative quantities and seasonal distribution is listed in Table 1 indicating those fifteen agro-industries having byproducts with potential use for livestock feed. Only three sub-sectors had no significant byproducts namely: the nut, chocolate and concentrate juice industries. The total amount generated by the 27 factories (13% of total factories) surveyed was 78,265 tons of potential byproducts. Major byproducts included: sesame hull, olive cake, potato peel and damaged pieces, citrus pulp, fruit and vegetables pulp, skin, core and leftovers, wheat bran, corn residues, sunflower, breads and cakes leftovers, whey, poultry wastes, grapes leftovers, spices leftovers, sugar beet pulp and molasses, carob leftovers, spent grain and brewer’s yeast. About 90 % of the byproducts are available all year round; the rest are available in fall, winter and spring seasons.  

Table 1. Results of factory survey (1997-1999)
Byproducts	Sector	No. Factories Visited	Total Factories No.	%  from every industry	Product qty/ton/ season	Byproduct Qty/Tons	Seasonal production
Sesame hull	Arabic sweets & canning industries	4	20	20	15,530	1,109	all year round
Olive cake	Olive oil industry	1	2	50	250	75	Fall-winter
Potato peel & damaged pieces	Potato chips industry	2	5	40	3,465	2,772	all year round
Citrus pulp	Juice industry (fresh)	2	2	100	4,874	2,545	Fall-winter-spring
Fruit & vegetable pulp/skin/core leftovers	Canning and packing industry	5	37	14	11,290	5,292	all year round  (different intervals)
Wheat bran	Cereals/Mill industry	2	3	67	140,000	32,200	all year round
Corn residues	Cereal/Mill industry	2			10,000	360	all year round
Sun flower	Sunflower oil indust	2			40,000	6,000	Fall-winter-spring
Breads & cakes leftovers	Cereals / Bakery industry	2	8	25	3,607	482	all year round
Whey	Milk industry	2	29	7	119	78	all year round
Poultry wastes & leftovers	Poultry industry	1	5	20	(1.5   million  heads)	980	all year round
Grapes & Anis seed & skin	Alcohol industry wine & Arak	2	36	6	600	70	fall
Spices leftovers	Spice industry	1	13	8	104	6	all year round
Sugar beet pulp	Sugar industry	1	1	100	300,000	13,500	all year round
Molasses	Sugar industry				300,000	12,000
Carob leftovers	Molasses industry	1	8	13	60	40	Fall-winter
Spent grains ( 80% moisture)	Alcohol/ beer industry	1	3	33	8,000	640	all year round
Brewer's yeast (in suspension)	Alcohol/beer Industry				8,000	117	all year round
No byproducts	Nuts industry	1	33	3.03	-	-
	Chocolate industry	1	15	6.67	-	-
	Juice industry (concentrate)	1	10	10.00	-	-
Grand total	-	30	170	13.04	-	78,266	-

Moreover, the survey indicated (Table 2) that few byproducts commonly used for feed are being sold, namely: wheat bran, and sugar beet pulp, and to some extent molasses, and olive cake. The rest of the byproducts were either disposed of or given away for free. Potato chips industry, vegetable processing and brewer’s grain industry had to dispose their byproducts at a significant cost depending on the quantity and the season. The on site processing of the byproducts into feed blocks would reduce the solid waste management and environment pollutants on the national level, and may generate income for these industries.    

 As shown in Table3, both the quantity and quality of the byproducts are notably high in terms of their nutritional values and amount produced. The quantity of by-product surveyed (70,156 tons) and representing around 13% of the total sector, is estimated to provided a total of 184, 8484 and 8528, in one year, of ME (10⁶ Mega-calories), CP (tons), and CF (tons) respectively. In developing countries, crop residues, agro-industrial byproducts and animal wastes that are not utilized can fill the gap of supply and demand for conventional feed resources (FAO 1985 and Hadjipanayiotou 1997). Agro-industrial byproducts such as sugar-beet pulp, citrus pulp, olive cake, tomato pulp, brewer’ grain, poultry excreta and others, can be utilized as straight feeds and/or supplements for upgrading the nutritional value of cereal straws and of feedstuffs available for grazing from the range during the long dry period (Amin 1997). High moisture agro-industrial byproducts such as citrus, sugar beet and tomato pulp are of high nutritional value. In some countries these byproducts are given to animal fresh and/or after being sun-dried. (Hadjipanayiotou et al 1993, Economides 1986). 

The above results clearly indicate the availability of byproducts for use as feed supplements for livestock animals, thus cutting down on the large feed deficit in Lebanon, estimated at 60% of the needs. An economic analysis of the production of feed blocks using agro-industrial byproducts and assessment of their value in improving the economic sustainability of the small ruminant production in the small ruminant systems is needed. 

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