Challenges in Iran’s Livestock Industry and the Role of Alternative Feed in Ensuring Food Security

The second challenge in this area is the quality of raw materials (soybean), which causes damage to poultry units for two reasons. One is due to fraud that occurs in soybeans, and the second issue is fungal contamination that may be transmitted through contaminated warehouses and feed transportation machinery.

One of the major challenges in the field of livestock and poultry feed production after currency fluctuations and sanctions is the supply of raw materials which means that poultry units do not have the right to choose in the supply of soybeans and their quality. Until the past year or two, only one type of soybean was offered in the system, and the units were forced to supply it but now the situation has improved a little.

He stated: The second challenge in this area is the quality of raw materials (soybean), which causes damage to poultry units for two reasons. One is due to fraud that occurs in soybeans, and the second issue is fungal contamination that may be transmitted through contaminated warehouses and feed transportation machinery.

Regarding alternative foods for livestock, he said: A lot of research has been done in this field in recent years, and various foods, such as animal manure and by-products of other industries, have been recommended, but unfortunately, none of these have found a place in the food chain. This issue stems from two factors, one is due to nutritional restrictions, because many of these alternative foods contain anti-nutrients; hence, it limits their use, and the second reason is that those alternative foods that have appropriate nutritional properties are unfortunately not available.