Compared effects of a concentrate and a traditional diet on growth and economic performances of young local-breed pigs in North Cameroon

Abstract

The effects of a concentrate and a traditional diet on the weight performance of the local breed swine of North Cameroon, and their impact on farmers’ incomes were compared on farm during 75 days. By the end of the trial, piglets fed the concentrate presented a weight about 60% higher than that of piglets fed the traditional diet, i.e. a final weight of 26 and 16.1 kg, respectively. Similarly, the daily weight gain was 206 and 74 g in piglets that received the concentrate and the traditional diet, respectively. From an economic viewpoint, the gross margins obtained were 2837.14 CFA francs with the concentrate and 950 CFAF with the traditional diet. This study showed that it is possible to improve the productivity of the local swine breed in North Cameroon and thus farmers’ incomes by improving animal feed.