InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA – Indonesia’s palm-cattle integration system continues to face a major bottleneck: securing high-quality nutrition for productive livestock. For cattle in critical physiological stages—including pregnancy, lactation, and calf growth—nutritional demands often exceed what under-canopy forage in oil palm plantations can provide.
According to IPB University CENTRAS Chairman Prof. Nahrowi, solving the nutrition challenge is key to scaling cattle populations within integrated palm plantation ecosystems.
“The biggest challenge in palm-cattle integration is ensuring adequate nutrient supply, particularly for productive cattle requiring high protein and energy intake during reproduction and growth,” Nahrowi said.
He pointed to Palm Kernel Meal (PKM) as one of the most strategic feed resources available in palm ecosystems due to its abundant, continuous, and sustainable supply.
However, raw PKM has nutritional limitations, particularly high Non-Starch Polysaccharides (NSP) content, especially β-mannan bonds, which reduce digestibility and limit feed efficiency.
Studies show PKM contains 350–380 grams/kg of mannan, significantly higher than soybean meal’s 20–40 grams/kg, making it difficult to optimize as a premium feed ingredient in raw form.
To address this, CENTRAS IPB developed a valorization process using fractionation and enzymatic hydrolysis with mannanase enzymes, producing an upgraded palm-based feed ingredient called Palmofeed.
Research results indicate Palmofeed delivers significantly improved nutritional quality. Crude protein content increased to 17.48%, while crude fiber dropped to 12.28%, and shell contamination declined sharply to 7.63%.
Most notably, Palmofeed increased in vitro digestibility to 33%, compared with just 24% for untreated PKM.
“This creates major opportunities for a more efficient and economically competitive palm-based feed industry,” Nahrowi explained.
Feeding trials in broiler chickens over 35 days also produced promising results, with inclusion rates of up to 12.5% Palmofeed plus mannanase achieving a Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) of 1.95, outperforming basal diets at 2.08.
Economically, palm-based feed formulations also offer strong cost advantages, with protein cost estimated at around Rp218.75 per percentage point of crude protein, far below corn and rice bran alternatives.
Nahrowi said this strengthens the case for developing integrated feed mills in plantation areas to support Indonesia’s national palm-cattle integration ecosystem.
With Palmofeed, Indonesia’s palm oil industry may evolve beyond vegetable oil production into a strategic foundation for sustainable livestock feed and stronger national food security. (T2)
