Economic analysis of supplementation with arborea and agro-industrial by-products in zebu cattle

Abstract

This work aims to assess the economic impact of supplementation witharborea and agro-industrial by-products in zebu cattle. Productive performancetest was conducted for 60 days in the municipality of GómezPlata (Antioquia-Colombia). Twenty castrated males commercial zebu receivedfive diets consisting for Pangola (Digitaria decumbens) (60%) andsupplement (40%) containing matarratón (Gliricidia sepium) (MAT), coffeepulp (Coffea arabica) (CP), grape pomace (Vitis vinifera) (GP) or cottonseed(Gossypium sp.) (CS); the control diet (CON) was not formulated with thesematerials. The economic analysis included the cost-structure of diet, calculationof total and unit production cost, sensitivity analysis and cost-benefitratio (B/C). In relation to CON diet, the cost per kilogram of diet wassuperior to CP and GP, 2.39 and 1.87 times, respectively. The value of akilogram of meat for CP, GP and MAT diets was 3.47, 2.04 and 1.40 timeshigher compared with CON diet. The B/C ratio was negative for CP and GPdiets, however, the sensitivity analysis showed that the introduction of GPis economically viable if its acquisition cost is lower. The costs associatedwith diet CS were slightly lower than the CON diet (93%), so the B/C ratiowas slightly higher. It concludes that the introduction of arborea andby-products is not economically feasible in all cases because factors suchas regional availability and dehydration increase production costs.