Poultry feed production and cost are major issues faced by poultry industy in India. Raw ingredients, such as corn, soyabean, rice and their by-products: pea nut meal, DDGS, corn gluten meal are being used for the production of poultry feed. Due to the competitive pricing of raw material and their non availability in the market, sometimes lower quality feed ingredients are used in poultry feed production. These materials may be stored for longer periods and due to poor storage conditions, they may get contaminated with fungi, due to favourable conditions prevalent in India.
Some fungi may produce mycotoxins as secondary metabolites that further contaminate these raw ingredients used for feed production with varying degrees of pathogenicity. They can have additive effect with other mycotoxins, infectious agents or nutritional deficiencies. This Cargill Mycotoxin Survey presents overview of Mycotoxin Prevalence in India for the last seven months (January’23 – July’23).
Key highlights of Mycotoxin Survey
- India comes in high risk zone, as 50 – 74% analysed samples were above performance risk level for
mycotoxin contamination. - Aflatoxin is the most prevalent mycotoxin followed by Fumonisin, Zearalenone and T2. which all can reduce performance and increase disease incidence in Poultry industry. They exert their effects through alteration in nutrient content, absorption, and metabolism, changes in the endocrine function and
suppression of the immune system. - Highly contaminated ingredients are: Deoiled Rice Bran (DORB, Dried Distillers Grain Soluble (DDGS), Corn Gluten Meal (CGM) and Pea Nut Meal. These ingredients should be used judiciously with precautions. Regular mycotoxin analysis should be conducted to know contamination levels for these ingredients.
- Moderately contaminated ingredients are: Corn, Soyabean Meal (SBM) and Broken Rice. Corn is major constitute of poultry feed & being used more than 50%, Therefore, low level of contamination in corn could be highly harmful for bird.
Various factors affecting Mycotoxicosis
Exposure to mycotoxins is a worldwide concern as their occurrence is unavoidable and varies among geographical regions. Mycotoxins can affect the performance and quality of production and act as carriers putting human health at risk. There are various factors affecting degree of Mycotoxicosis.
Mycotoxin Mitigation Strategies
Multipronged strategies have to be curated for combating mycotoxin issue as there are various factors, which are affecting poultry at different level. Prevention is always better than cure.
Pre Harvest
Selection of varieties of seed, control of insects & pest, Rotation of crops, collection procedure of harvest, cleaning & drying.
Post Harvest
Pest control, Moisture control, temperature control, cleaning of facilities, regular mycotoxin analysis, ventilated storage facility, Treatment of contaminated raw ingredients, Dilution of contaminated raw ingredients, extra precautions during Monsoon seasons.
