Sandeep Gupta*, Livestock Scientific Development Association, *Corresponding author: S Gupta; Email: drsandeepvet@gmail.com
Abstract:
The livestock industry has become an important segment as well as fastest fastest-growing segment, fulfilling human food requirement. The numerous scientific researches and skilled human resources are the backbone of the livestock industry. The developing countries are deficient in research facilities and skilled workers. The establishment of the Livestock Scientific Development Association (LSDA) is one step forward in this objective. The LSDA has an advanced experimental house facility having a Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system in, the pellet feed mill and promotes training programme for various roles such as farm managers, feed mill supervisors, etc. The HVAC in poultry houses has full monitoring over environmental factors like temperature, humidity, air velocity, levels of O2, CO2, NH3, etc., resulting in optimum growth and productivity of birds. This facility also gives the opportunity to formulate an experimental diet in the form of pellets and crumbles. The LSDA station has an advanced and well-equipped laboratory facility for the analysis of nutrients, micro-nutrients, pesticides, toxins, etc. The LSDA facility collaborates with institutes, researchers, the feed industry, the pharma industry, and students and pursues one platform for knowledge exchange. This facility gives the opportunity to address ethical concerns by lowering a number of replicates and scarification of birds, which leads to animal welfare.
Keywords: Environmental factors, HVAC, Livestock industry, LSDA, True Environment.
Introduction:
Poultry farming is the fastest-growing sector within animal husbandry at the global level. Continuous researches, the use of innovative technologies as well as a fruitful breeding programme are the pillars of the modern-day poultry industry. Poultry nutrition has now expanded into a broader field of research that extends beyond the primary ingredients and performance parameters studies. Poultry nutritionists address various research aspects globally, including micro-nutrient trials, water treatment studies, and product validation in poultry. However, there is a lack of facilities at the institute level, which limits the research findings. This results in the presence of pesticide residues, toxins, and heavy metals in poultry products, ultimately compromising human food safety. Furthermore, a significant challenge faced by the poultry industry is the lack of precise research data from institutes, which hinders the development and innovation of new products capable of meeting market demands. Environmental factors play a crucial role in poultry production including temperature, humidity, light, altitude, wind velocity, air quality, and population density. Many research studies revealed the impact of environmental factors on the growth of broilers. A higher level of ammonia (NH3) in poultry houses has harmful impacts on caretakers and animal well-being (Ni, 2015). Furthermore, the performance and productivity of broilers are influenced by factors viz., air temperature, relative humidity, and air velocity (Giloh et al., 2012). The housing environment, encompassing factors such as temperature (both cold and fluctuating conditions) and air quality including dust concentration, carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, and oxygen (O2) levels is recognized as a key determinant of growth and contributes to the incidence of ascites in broiler chickens (McGovern et al., 2001). These studies revealed that the environment plays a key role in poultry production. Thus, poultry research trials need a standard environment and optimum nutritional conditions.
The lack of skilled human resources for various roles such as farm manager, farm supervisor, feed mill manager, feed mill supervisor, etc. hinders the management at poultry farms. This can lead to a decline in the production of poultry products such as meat and eggs. These problems can be resolved by promoting proper training and education programme for these positions.
In response to these challenges, the Livestock Scientific Development Association (LSDA) has been established with the following objectives,
1. The aim of this project is to establish a state-of-the-art research facility for institutes that can support their scientific endeavors and enhance the research & development in the Indian livestock industry by conducting rigorous experiments.
2. Organize a skill development program to enhance an individual’s abilities and competencies to improve skill & knowledge by using research facilities for broilers, layers & breeders, laboratory facilities, and feed mill facilities.
LSDA- A State-of-the-art R&D Facility
LSDA is registered under section VIII nonprofit organization to support various livestock research. It serves bridge between scientists, organizations, feed companies, and institutes, facilitating collaboration, innovation & knowledge exchange. It is a state-of-the-art research and development (R&D) facility located in Indore (India) which boasts India's first R&D house with an HVAC system, feed pellet mill, and advanced laboratory facility.
The HVAC system is designed to optimize environmental conditions and is employed to regulate the atmospheric conditions within poultry houses, utilizing the principles of fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and heat transfer. The Air Handling Unit (AHU) is a component of the HVAC system, engineered to manage and condition the air as it is processed within the system. This system also provides a source of ventilation which facilitates the escape route for moisture. The HVAC system installed at the LSDA facility is as per the latest standard compromising Heating units, Air conditioning units, Ducts, and Moisture vents. Sensors installed in the HVAC unit are sensible to changes in levels of humidity, O2, CO2, NH3, etc. Environmental conditions to be monitored inside the poultry house: Ideal environmental conditions that were quoted by previous researchers are followed at the LSDA experimental facility. The following norms at the facility are as per the following references:
Table 1: Environmental conditions inside the poultry house
Facilities at LSDA (State-of-the-Art Facilities at LSDA)
The LSDA experimental station is located in Indore, India. The LSDA aims to provide an optimum environmental condition for experimental birds as well as a standardized experiment facility at a common platform for devotee researchers.
Experimental House
The fastest-growing poultry industry needs an optimum environmental condition with wellwell-equipped experimental house. LSDA experimental station approved by the Committee for the Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CCSEA), Ministry of Animal Husbandry, dairy, and Fisheries, Government of India with a capacity of 840 birds, dedicated for broilers, layers, and breeders. The experimental house contains 84 adjustable pens/blocks that can accommodate 10 experimental birds per block and the blocks can be further adjusted according to research protocol (20 birds/pen, 30 birds/pen, etc.). Each pen is covered with automatic feeders and drinkers. It also provides an opportunity to conduct research studies through water-soluble supplements. The facility is also equipped to conduct trials on water and feed treatments, as well as digestibility studies of various nutrients, including micronutrients such as amino acids, minerals, and vitamins.
Pellet Feed Mill
An available feed pelleting mill at LSDA with a capacity of producing pellets at 150 kg per hour and a crumbler for crumbles production facilitate ease in feeding experiments. This feed pelleting mill enhances the opportunity for the formulation of experimental diets for trial birds. The State-of-the-Art pellet feed mill is equipped with modern technology and adheres to safety and hygiene standards to guarantee product integrity.
The pellet mill is used to manufacture standard and custom diets for animal models to meet the research objectives. The diet/ feed is exclusively formulated to meet the requirements of laboratory animals like rats, rabbits, Mouse, Mice, hamsters, Guinea pigs, and also for pet birds.
Laboratory facility
The R&D facility provides an advanced and well-equipped laboratory facility which includes different sections viz., microbiological, wet chemistry, and instrumental section. This helps in testing different samples of feed and feed supplements, excreta, or digesta samples obtained during experimental studies. The laboratory facility comprises advanced instruments viz., High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Gas chromatography/Mass spectrometry (GC/MS), Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (LC-MS), Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP MS), etc., to aid in the analysis of pesticides, dioxins, heavy metals, antibiotics, amino acids, vitamins, etc from food and feed samples. The available laboratory facility at LSDA stands as the most advanced laboratory in the country.
Research/ Trials facility at LSDA
LSDA facilitates a number of experimental trial facilities with precise result outcomes. Apart from nutritional studies, LSDA provides a facility to conduct micro-nutrient digestibility trials by marker and fecal method. This experimental station also give an opportunity to conduct trials such as
Fig 4. A Pellet Feed Mill for experimental birds/laboratory animals.
Fig 5. An advanced laboratory facility at LSDA.
water treatment trials, research on feed additives, enzymes, and pro-biotics to improve nutrient utilization, formulation on specialized diets to optimize growth, egg production, and overall health, amino acid digestibility trials, studies to evaluate the economics and sustainability of poultry farming, antimicrobial resistance mitigation studies, and many more.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Activities:
LSDA is registered for CSR activities under section VIII with registration numberCSR00070582, under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs Office of the Register Companies, Government of India. The fund generated at LSDA is utilized for the following CSR activities,
⚫ LSDA provides free nutritional support to Gaushalas, NGOs and livestock farms present in temples to improve the productivity performance of nutritionally poor and underperforming animals.
⚫ Providing support and resources to smallholder farmers to improve their livestock management practices, enhance productivity, and surge income generation.
⚫ These institutes also seek provision to provide water and feed to the birds during summer by arranging free waterers and feeders in the various cities.
⚫ LSDA promises to provide scholarships and R&D facilities for free to universities and veterinary research scholars, who want to pursue their dreams of conducting advanced research studies in Poultry Science.
⚫ LSDA also helps these research scholars publish their research studies in reputed journals and magazines to promote their studies at national and international stages/platforms.
Functions of LSDA:
LSDA collaborates with scientists, organizations, companies, and institutes to advance poultry and livestock science in the world. The LSDA seeks to promote scientific experiments of products in institutes and strongly believes in sharing the results with relevant stakeholders. LSDA gives an opportunity to provide scientific data of institutes to the feed industry and organizations that support poultry and livestock research. These institutes facilitate access to facilities and equipment for conducting ideal scientific trials in various institutes. The establishment of a central laboratory at LSDA enhanced precise data analysis and quality assurance of poultry and livestock research. LSDA is an opportunity to train human resources and improve their skills for various roles such as farm managers, supervisors, feed mill managers, and feed mill supervisors. These institutes facilitate to provision of research data to poultry scientists, organizations, and companies for evidence-based
Fig 6. Distribution of feed supplements to Gaushalas under CSR activity decision-making. LSDA offers various programs such as training courses, workshops, and short-term courses for poultry management (broiler, layer, breeder, and feed mill technology).
LSDA is an advanced experimental station with a well-equipped in-house experiment facility, sophisticated lab, and feed pelleting mill. This aids in establishing research protocol in experimental birds to seek precise results.
Conclusion:
The livestock industry is the fastest growing industry and fulfills human food demand but, the lack of scientific research facilities and skilled workers in the livestock sector of developing countries leads to lower livestock production. LSDA plays an important role in minimizing these lacunae. This facility serves as a platform for institutes, to feed industry scientists, students & researchers and exchange their knowledge. Experimenting house with an HVAC system can minimize stress on birds by providing an optimum environment and nutrients. Poultry houses with HVAC, advanced lab facilities, and pellet feed mills give the opportunity to researchers to make experiment protocols as needed. Scientific training programmes in such R&D facilities promote skilled human resources for different roles at poultry farms. Various roles along with CSR activities and the aims of LSDA have been discussed in detail in this article.
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References:
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Giloh M., Shinder D. and Yahav S. (2012). Skin surface temperature of broiler chickens is correlated to body core temperature and is indicative of their thermoregulatory status. Poultry Science Journal. 91:175–188.
Hulzebosch J. (2004). What affects the climate in poultry houses? World Poultry. 2004; 20:36-38
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McGovern R. H., Feddes J. J. R., Zuidh of M. J., Hanson J. A. and Robinson F. E. (2001). Growth performance, heart characteristics, and the incidence of ascites in broilers in response to carbon dioxide and oxygen concentrations. Canadian Biosystems Engineering, 43: 4-1.
Ni Ji-Qin. (2015). Research and demonstration to improve air quality for the U.S. animal feeding operations in the 21st century – A critical review. Environmental Pollution. 105-119.
Oloyo A.(2018). The use of housing system in the management of heat stress in poultry production in hot and humid climate: A review. Poultry Science Journal. 6(1):1-9.
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