ABSTRACT

Cassava leaf meal is a highly nutritious protein-rich ingredient which offers a vast scope for inclusion in root meal diets. However, the leaf meal has to be properly detoxified by drying prior to its inclusion in compounded feeds. Cassava roots and leaves have been found to contribute substantially to the energy requirements of poultry, swine, and ruminants. Cassava diets have often been found to have low palatability due to the powdery nature of the root flour. However, proper supplementation with molasses and/or fat has been found to reduce dustiness and improve taste. Growth depression of animals fed cassava diets was found to be corrected by the addition of fats and oils. Variations in the protein quality of animal protein and vegetable protein on the performance of steers fed cassava/urea meal were compared by Iriki.