EFFECTS OF INORGANIC FERTILISERS ON MORINGA [Moringa oleifera (Lam.)] LEAF YIELD, NUTRIENT COMPOSITION, AND ON PRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE IN BROILERS

Abstract

Poultry production is constrained by inadequate supply of quality feed and its escalating costs in Eswatini. One possible means of addressing the feed shortage can be use of Moringa oleifera leaves as supplement. An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of inorganic fertilisers on M. oleifera growth, leaf yield and nutrient contents; and on the performance of broilers fed with moringa leaf supplemented diet. The field experiment had four treatments: 1) Control (no inorganic fertiliser), 2) 100 kg/ha 2:3:2(22) + 100 kg/ha Limestone Ammonium Nitrate (LAN), 3) 200 kg/ha 2:3:2(22) + 200 kg/ha LAN, 4) 400 kg/ha 2:3:2(22) + 400 kg/ha LAN in randomised complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. The broilers experiment had five treatments; broiler finisher with the control (conventional broiler finisher, no moringa), and four treatments of broiler finisher supplemented with 20% M. oleifera feed grown under the fertiliser levels described in the above experiment in RCBD in five replications. Results showed that as the rate of inorganic fertiliser increased the growth parameters and leaf yield of M. oleifera were significantly (P < 0.01) increased, but no significant differences between [200 kg/ha 2:3:2(22) + 200 kg/ha LAN] and [400 kg/ha 2:3:2(22) + 400 kg/ha LAN]. Similarly, as the rates of fertiliser increased, crude protein and crude fibre contents of the leaves increased significantly. In contrast, broiler feed supplemented with M. oleifera grown at different rates of inorganic fertiliser resulted in significantly lower body weight gain as well as live, plucked and dressed weights while it significantly decreased faecal bacterial count. Thus, the application of 200 kg/ha 2:3:2(22) + 200 kg/ha LAN can be used for optimum early growth of M. oleifera to obtain nutritious leaf products while there is a need for further studies on M. oleifera supplementation to broilers feed at less than 20%.