DSM Poultry Tour Asia 2010

09-07-2010 | Home | News

DSM Poultry Tour Asia 2010, a seminar of 5 experts discussing the theme “Unlimited Opportunities for the Poultry Industry Beyond 2010”, was launched in Australia (Sydney) on May 10. It subsequently made its way on to Indonesia (Jakarta), Thailand (Bangkok) and India (Hyderabad and Pune), concluding in China (Qingdao) on May 20.

The seminar’s specialist speakers were Dr. John Tierce (President of Avian Performance Standard, Inc., USA), Dr. Kelli Jones (Assistant Clinical Professor of Avian Medicine, Mississippi State University, USA), Dr. Roselina Angel (Associate Professor, Department of Animal and Avian Sciences, University of Maryland, USA), Jose Maria Hernandez (Global Business Development Manager Poultry, DSM Nutritional Products Ltd, Switzerland), and Dr. Christophe Paulus (Global Business Development Manager Eubiotics, DSM Nutritional Products Ltd, Switzerland).

Poultry industry trends

Dr. John Tierce gave a presentation on “Global Poultry Production Trends and Challenges” in which he explained that the current trend within the poultry industry is to raise heavier broilers, which leads to an increase in overall breast meat yield. He also emphasised that broiler health and welfare must be interdependent and that improved food safety has the positive benefit of pathogen reduction in live bird production. The challenges of the global poultry industry, noted Dr. Tierce, encompassed animal welfare and environmental issues as well as the potential contribution to global warming posed by poultry meat and egg production.

A global perspective

Dr. Kelli Jones’ followed with a talk entitled “A Global Perspective on Current Health Issues in the Poultry Industry.” Dr. Jones focused on a range of poultry health issues in Asia: Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV), leg problems (rickets, tibial dyschondroplasia and vertebral osteoarthritis), Chronic Respiratory Disease (CRD), Coccidiosis, Salmonella, Avian Influenza (AI), and tumors (Marek’s Disease).

Poultry feed solutions

In her presentation on “Feed Enzymes Providing Solutions to the Poultry Industry”, Dr. Roselina Angel discussed the significance of phytic acid as an anti-nutritive factor and the impact of phytin chelating properties on the digestibility of ingredient nutrients. She went on to emphasise the importance of a good working knowledge of structural relationships between ingredient nutrients and the site of exogenous enzyme activities in the gastro-intestinal tract (related to gut pH and passage rate) in predicting which enzymes or combinations of enzymes should be used in specific poultry diets.

Integrated food chain

Jose Maria Hernandez next described “The DSM Experience in Food Chain Partnership”. He explained that all stakeholders in the Food Chain must work in an integrated manner in order to achieve the main goal of Food Chain Partnership, which means ensuring that consumers receive safe foods of good quality. One of his concerns was that consumers are often skeptical about food safety as well as about the professional integrity and product branding of food companies. To regain the trust of consumers, believes Hernandez, stakeholders in the food chain must provide information on how food is produced. They must also work in partnership with the media and NGOs, which act as channels for communicating with consumers.

From myth to reality

In his presentation on “Alternatives to Antibiotic Growth Promoters – from Myth to Reality: It is happening in Europe,” Dr. Christophe Paulus argued that it is possible to raise poultry under industrial conditions without antibiotics. He proposed using a combination of feed enzymes, essential oils and organic acids to improve the digestibility of feed nutrients, stimulate endogenous enzyme production and modulate gut microflora.

The Tour Seminar was well attended by major poultry industry players, comprising nutritionists, feed formulators, veterinarians, production managers, farm managers and purchasers.