{"id":5915,"date":"2025-06-24T10:50:44","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T05:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/babrone.avfu.ac.in\/blog\/?p=5915"},"modified":"2025-09-19T10:12:48","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T04:42:48","slug":"feeding-of-subabul-leucaena-leucocephala-leaves-in-pigs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/babrone.avfu.ac.in\/blog\/?p=5915","title":{"rendered":"Feeding of Subabul (Leucaena leucocephala) leaves in pigs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mamata Joysowal1<\/sup> and Gunaram Saikia2<\/sup><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

1<\/sup>Assistant professor, mamtajaiswal525@gmail.com<\/a>,<\/span><\/p>\n

2<\/sup>Professor, gunaram.saikia@aau.ac.in<\/a>,<\/span><\/p>\n

College of Veterinary Science, AAU, Khanapara, Guwahati-781 022<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Pig is generally related to the weaker section of society and tribal masses. The total pig population of India is 9.06 million, which constitutes 1.7% of the total livestock population (20th<\/sup> Livestock Census, 2019). Pork production in India is estimated at 365.3 thousand metric tons in the fiscal year 2021-22. It contributes about 3.93% of the total meat production in India. Pork contributes about 7481 crore rupees gross domestic product at the current basic price in the fiscal year 2020-21 (BAHS, 2021).<\/span><\/p>\n

Because of the low availability of quality feed due to regional and economic constraints, natural feed resources can be utilized for feeding pigs. One plant of such interest is Subabul (Leucaena leucocephala<\/em>), which is a fast-growing, evergreen, thornless shrub reaching a height of 5 m (Hawaiian type) to 20 m (Hawaiian giant type) (FAO, 2009). Subabul is a long-lived perennial legume (around 23-year half-life). It has a deep taproot and is highly branched. Leaves are bipinnate, bearing leaflets 8 mm to 16 mm long (Cook et al<\/em>., 2005).<\/span><\/p>\n

Leucaena leucocephala<\/em> is popularly known as \u2018Subabul\u2019 due to its resemblance to the Babul tree which is quite a common sight in India. It is a very fast-growing tree and can be grown in all types of soil, including problematic soils like saline and alkaline soil.<\/span><\/p>\n

It can also be grown in all types of soil. Subabul is a highly nutritious fodder tree, and protein derived from its fodder is considered equivalent to lucerne in nutritional value. Its leaves contain approximately 21.45% crude protein and 14.25% crude fibre content. Further, it is thorn-free; therefore, animals feed it with fervour. Subabul leaf meal has been used for the last two decades as an animal feedstuff because of its high concentration of protein of high biological value and other nutrients such as carotene and various minerals (NAS, 1977; Akbar and Gupta, 1985; Sunaria and Vidyasagar, 1989). Besides giving fodder, this tree also deposits valuable nitrogen and phosphorus elements in the soil. In India, it has been introduced from hot areas of America, and now it is successfully cultivated in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Assam. Once its plants are established in the field, green fodder is continuously obtained for the animals for about 10-15 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

TABLE 4.3: CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF SUBABUL LEAF MEAL<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Sl. No.<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nAttributes<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nSubabul Leaf Meal<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/span><\/td>\nDry matter (%)<\/span><\/td>\n94.98 \u00b1 1.14<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/span><\/td>\nCrude protein (%)<\/span><\/td>\n24.10 \u00b1 0.43<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/span><\/td>\nCrude Fibre (%)<\/span><\/td>\n13.74 \u00b1 0.54<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/span><\/td>\nEther Extract (%)<\/span><\/td>\n7.59 \u00b1 0.20<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/span><\/td>\nNitrogen free Extract (%)<\/span><\/td>\n42.11 \u00b1 1.73<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/span><\/td>\nTotal ash (%)<\/span><\/td>\n14.46 \u00b1 0.32<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/span><\/td>\nMimosine (%)<\/span><\/td>\n3.38<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

Subabul leaves contain 24.9% crude protein, 11.4% ash, and 2573.8 Kcal\/Kg metabolizable energy (Ayssiwede et al.,<\/em> 2010). Subabul is one of the highest quality forages of the tropics with the highest palatability. Subabul is a vigorous and drought-resistant leguminous tree whose high-protein leaves have been widely used as ruminant feeds in the tropics (Nuttaporn and Naiyatat, 2009). Despite so many good qualities, its use as livestock feed is limited by the presence of toxic amino acid, mimosine and its metabolites 3, 4 DHP and 2, 3 DHP (Hammond, 1995). Characteristic signs of Subabul toxicity are alopecia, anorexia, reduced weight gain and weight loss, excessive salivation, oesophageal lesions, enlarged thyroid and low circulating concentrations of thyroid hormones (Jones and Bunch, 1995). Spontaneous poisoning by this plant was described in cattle, sheep and rabbits; however, it is rare in goats. This communication reports the natural occurrence of Leucaena leucocephala<\/em> toxicity in goat and its management under field conditions. It is considered important in developing countries like India (Kumar et al<\/em>., 2010).<\/span><\/p>\n

The mimosine content in Subabul <\/strong>leaves can cause poisoning if not processed properly. Poisoning experienced by livestock can be acute and chronic. To avoid this, attention needs to be paid to the correct processing. Ways to reduce mimosine levels include heating and immersion in hot water.<\/span><\/p>\n

References:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

20th Livestock Census (2019). Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries. Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India.<\/span><\/p>\n

Akbar, M.A. and P.C. Gupta, (1985). Subabul (Leucaena leucocephala<\/em>) as a source of protein supplement for buffalo calves. Indian J. Anim. Sci.<\/em>, 55<\/strong>: 54-58.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ayssiwede, S. B.; Dieng, A.; Chrysostome, C.; Ossebi, W.; Hornick, J. L., and Missohou, A. (2010). Digestibility and metabolic utilization, and nutritional value of Leucaena leucocephala<\/em> (Lam.) leaves meal incorporated in the diets of indigenous Senegal chickens. International Journal of Poultry Science<\/em>, 9<\/strong>(8): 767-776.<\/span><\/p>\n

BAHS (2021). Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture. Government of India.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cook, B. G.; Pengelly, B. C.; Brown, S. D.; Donnelly, J. L.; Eagles, D. A.; Franco, M. A.; Hanson, J.; Mullen, B. F.; Partridge, I. J.; Peters, M. and Schultze-Kraft, R. (2005). Tropical forages. CSIRO, DPI&F (Qld), CIAT and ILRI, Brisbane, Australia.<\/span><\/p>\n

FAO (2009). Grassland Index. A searchable catalogue of grass and forage legumes. FAO, Rome, Italy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hammond, A.C. (1995). Leucaena<\/em> toxicity and its control in ruminants. J. Anim. Sci<\/em>. 73<\/strong>: 1478-1492.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jones, R. and G.A. Bunch (1995). Long-term records of legume persistence and animal production from pastures based on Safari Kenya clover and 210 leucaena in subtropical coastal Queensland. Tropical Grasslands<\/em>, 29<\/strong>: 74-80.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kumar, A.; Arya, R.K. and Pahuja, S.K. (2010). Effect of cutting and fertilizer management on seed quality parameters of oat (Avena sativa L.). Forage Research<\/em>. 35<\/strong>: 198-200.<\/span><\/p>\n

NAS (1977). Leucaena: Promising Forage and Tree Crop for the Tropics. National Academy of Science, Washington, D.C., 26<\/strong>: 30-31.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nuttaporn, F. and Naiyatat, P. (2009). The reduction of mimosine and tannin content in leaves of Leucaena leucocephala<\/em>. Asian Journal of Food and Agro-Industry Special issue<\/em>, S137- S144.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sunaria, K. R. and Vidya-Sagar, V. (1989). Subabul (Leucaena leucocephala<\/em>) leaf meal – its chemical composition, amino acid makes up and detoxification of mimosine and tannins. Indian Journal of Animal Nutrition<\/em>. 6<\/strong>: 223-226.<\/span><\/p>\n

Download PDF<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mamata Joysowal1 and Gunaram Saikia2 1Assistant professor, mamtajaiswal525@gmail.com, 2Professor, gunaram.saikia@aau.ac.in, College of Veterinary Science, AAU, Khanapara, Guwahati-781 022   Pig is generally related to the weaker section of society and tribal masses. The total pig population of India is 9.06 million, which constitutes 1.7% of the total livestock population (20th Livestock Census, 2019). Pork production…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[453,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article33th-issue","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/babrone.avfu.ac.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/babrone.avfu.ac.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/babrone.avfu.ac.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/babrone.avfu.ac.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/babrone.avfu.ac.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5915"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/babrone.avfu.ac.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5915\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5921,"href":"https:\/\/babrone.avfu.ac.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5915\/revisions\/5921"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/babrone.avfu.ac.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/babrone.avfu.ac.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/babrone.avfu.ac.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/babrone.avfu.ac.in\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}