• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.423-431
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• 2001

Animals are one of the important memberships of the food chain. The low-efficiency rule of nutrient transfer from one member to the next in the food chain determines the low efficiency of animal agriculture for human food. On the average, about 20% feed proteins and 15% feed energy can be converted into edible nutrients for humans. The rest proportion of feed nutrients is exposed to the environment. Environmental pollution, therefore, is inevitable as animal agriculture grows intensively and extensively. The over-loading of the environment by nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus from animal manure results in soil and water spoilage. The emission of gases like $CH_2$, $CO_2$, $SO_2$, NO, $NO_2$ by animals are one of the contributors for the acidification of the environment and global warming. The inefficient utilization of natural resources and the probable unsafety of animal products to human health are also a critical environmental issue. Improving the conversion efficiency of nutrients in the food chain is the fundamental strategy for solving environmental issues. Specifically in animal agriculture, the strategy includes the improvements of animal genotypes, nutritional and feeding management, animal health, housing systems and waste disposal programs. Animal nutrition science plays a unique and irreplaceable role in the control of nutrient input and output in either products or wastes. Several nutritional methods are proved to be effective in alleviating environmental pollution. A lot of nutritional issues, however, remain to be further researched for the science of animal nutrition to be a strong helper for sustainability of animal agriculture.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.53-62
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• 2012

In the past, poultry nutrition has focussed on increasing the production efficiency to meet the progress achieved in the genetic potential of broilers and layers. Future directions in poultry nutrition will be driven by not only by the need to maximise biological and economic performance of birds, but also by societal issues (environment, antibiotic growth promoters, welfare, traceability and use of genetically modified ingredients). Key advances in poultry nutrition are discussed and future directions, which can be expected, are highlighted. Given the tightening supply and ever-increasing cost of raw materials, there will be more pressure to extract every unit of energy and nutrients from feed ingredients. In this context, a number of feed additives are expected to play an increasingly significant role. Feed enzymes and crystalline amino acids, in particular, will have a profound effect on future sustainability of the poultry industry. Future nutritional research need to focus on identifying the barriers to effective digestion and utilisation of nutrients and, to achieve this objective, nutritionists must combine their expertise with those of specialising in other biological sciences, including immunology, microbiology, histology and molecular biology.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2021

The realities of Climate change and its untold implications on the livelihood of man are no longer new worldwide. In attempts to subdue the negative implications of Climate change scenario globally, several measures have being suggested and being put in place. One of such measures is urban reforestation especially in the developing nations where forest resources have extremely and uncontrollably exploited. Most of cities in developing nations are almost devoid of regularly maintained trees for whatever purpose. Thus, the enormous roles which urban tree performs are lacked in most cities. In order to subdue excessive heat in cities arising from exposure of urban land areas urban reforestation exercise needs to be embarked upon. The investigation was carried out through desk studies and review of relevant publications to examine what it entails to have a sustainable reforestation programme in cities. The study revealed that several factors need to be taken into consideration if sustainable urban reforestation will be achieved, especially in developing countries. These factors include urban soil nutrients status investigation, appropriate tree type study, public perception about the tree types, relevant legal instrument to achieve successful reforestation exercise in cities among others were found to be salient to this exercise. Urban reforestation has enormous potentials to subdue Climate change consequences, including urban renewal if adequate provision is made for its sustainability, especially in developing countries. To ensure this is realized it is recommended that relevant ministry/agency could be put in charge for the maintaining, cutting and replanting of urban tree and all that are involved in urban tree sustainability.

• ALGAE
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.217-225
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• 2014

Land-based seaweed (Gracilaria) cultivation systems may provide products with high quality and biosafety for human consumption, as well as for other high value applications. However, a limitation for this land based system is high management costs. The objective of this study was to determine if the management costs for Gracilaria cultivation can be reduced without a decrease in productivity by using $CO_2$ injection along with a high stocking density and high photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), and commercially available fertilizers. When Gracilaria tikvahiae was cultivated at a high stocking density and high PAR, coupled with $CO_2$ enhancement, the productivity was significantly higher than that at a lower stocking density, low light without $CO_2$ injection. We also found that G. tikvahiae grown in a medium of commercially available fertilizer (Jack's Special, JS) showed a similar growth rate and productivity to that grown in von Stosch's enriched (VSE) seawater, while the cost for JS media is only 2% of the cost for VSE. These results suggest that $CO_2$ injection and commercial fertilizer may be a potential way to provide sustainability in land-based Gracilaria cultivation systems.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.206-214
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• 2011

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of the NutriPlus+ Program and to observe how the improved statuses were maintained after the program's termination. The subjects were infants and their parents, who have participated in the NutriPlus+ Program conducted by South Healthcare Center in Po-hang for longer than six months, during the period 2007 - 2010. The survey was conducted with questionnaires, and scores were tabulated from each question. After the intervention of the program, scores representing degrees of nutrition knowledge and nutrition attitude increased. The rate of nutritional risk by anthropometric measurement decreased, and the prevalence rate of anemia was significantly decreased as well. The number of subjects lacking any nutrients, except for iron and vitamin C, decreased, which indicates that the NutriPlus+ Program was effective. After enough time had passed after the intervention's completion; however, the scores of nutrition knowledge and nutrition attitude decreased. The number of subjects with low height and weight (proportional to their age) relatively decreased, and the prevalence rate of anemia increased slightly. The number of subjects lacking in energy and calcium consumption increased as well, which indicates that the effect of the NutriPlus+ Program was not maintained after the program's termination.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.23-27
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• 2014

Nutrient accumulation in surface soil has become a serious problem for cucumber production in greenhouse. However, still in many cases, soil management practices are only focused on maintaining crop yield, regardless of sustainability related with soil chemical properties. This study was conducted to propose a sustainable soil management practice by investigating the impact of cover crop species and nitrogen rate of fertigated solution on cucumber yield and soil chemical properties in greenhouse condition. Rye and hairy vetch were tested as a fallow cover crop, and each amount of urea (1/2, 3/4, 1 times of N fertilizer recommendations), determined by soil testing result, was supplied in fertigation plots as an additional nitrogen source. The result showed that the yield of cucumber was higher in rye treatment than control and hairy vetch treatment. In addition, rye effectively reduced EC and accumulated nutrients from the soil. Meanwhile, N concentration of fertigated solution showed no significant effect on the growth and yield of cucumber. Consequently, these results suggest that it is desirable to choose rye as a fallow catch crop for sustainable cucumber production in greenhouse.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.733-745
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• 2001

This review paper discusses the relevance and potential importance of food-feed systems in Asian agricultural systems, and in particular the role and contribution of legumes to these systems. A food-feed system is one that maintains, if not increases, the yield of food crops, sustains soil fertility, and provides dietary nutrients for animals. It involves a cropping pattern within which the feed crop has many beneficial effects without competing for land, soil nutrients and water with the food crops. The agricultural environment is described with reference to the priority agro-ecological zones and prevailing mixed farming systems in Asia. Within these systems, animal production is severely hampered by critical feed shortages which can however, be alleviated by the integration of suitable leguminous forages into the cropping systems. The review also focuses on the role and potential importance of leguminous forages in terms of biodiversity, their uses in farming systems, beneficial effects on animal performance, and draws attention to six case studies in different countries that clearly demonstrate many benefits of developing such food-feed systems. Considerable opportunities exist for widening the use of forage legumes in the development of systems with several complementary advantages (e.g. fenceline, cover crops, fodder banks, forage source and erosion control) to improve the development of sustainable crop-animal systems in Asia.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.29-38
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• 2022

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the feeding value, meat nutrients and associative effects of a diet comprised of various corn silages inclusion with peanut vine or wheat straw in finishing beef cattle. Methods: One hundred and eighty Simmental crossbred beef steers were blocked and assigned to the follow treatments: i) whole plant corn silage-based diet (control, WPCS), ii) mixed forages-based diet (replacing a portion of corn silage with wheat straw, WPCSW), iii) corn stalklage-based diet (CS), and iv) sweet corn stalklage-based diet (SCS). Each group consisted of 5 repeated pens with 9 steers/pen. The diets were formulated to be isonitrogenous and isoenergetic with same forage to concentrate ratio. Experimental diets were fed for 90 d. Results: The effective ruminal degradability of dry matter and crude protein were highest for WPCS diet (p<0.05), for neutral detergent fiber was highest in SCS diet (p<0.05). The average daily gain was greater for cattle offered the WPCS diet, intermediate with WPCSW and SCS and lowest with CS (p<0.001). The concentration of non-esterified fatty acid in serum was higher for steers fed with CS and SCS diets than those offered WPCS and WPCSW steers (p<0.001). The treatments did not affect the general nutritional contents and amino acids composition of Longissimus dorsi of steers (p>0.05). Conclusion: The corn silage-based diet exhibited the highest feeding value. The sweet corn stalklage and wheat straw as an alternative to corn silage offered to beef cattle had limited influence on feeding value and meat nutrients. However, the value of a corn stalklage-based diet was relatively poor. To sum up, when the high quality forage resources, such as corn silage, are in short supply, or the growth rate of beef cattle decreases in the later finishing period, the sweet stalklage and wheat straw could be used as a cheaper alternative in feedlot cattle diet without sharp reducing economic benefits.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.432-444
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• 2001

In this manuscript, several effective feeding and management systems to reduce environmental pollution in swine production have been briefly introduced. It is logical that reducing the excretion of nutrients in manure should be the first step to reduce the environmental impact of pig production. it is evident that the excretion of nitrogen and phosphorus can be reduced when more digestible or available feedstuffs are used. Also, it is well known that proper feed processing can reduce anti nutritional factors (ANF) and improve nutrient digestibilities. Supplementation of effective feed additives can reduce excretion of nitrogen and phosphorus due to efficient feed utilization. These include enzymes (e.g., phytase), antibiotics, probiotics, organic acids and growth hormones ($\beta$-agonists and porcine somatotropin). One of the most effective ways to reduce pollutants from swine manure is to use synthetic amino acids in feed manufacturing. Many studies showed that reduction of 2 to 4% unit (U) of dietary protein with supplemental amino acid (AA) could dramatically reduce (15 to 20%) nitrogen excretion. Regarding feeding strategies, it has been recognized that phase feeding regimen could be used to reduce nitrogen and phosphorous excretion by feeding pigs in better agreement with age and physiological state. Feeding barrows and gilts separately, known as split sex feeding, can also decrease excretion of nitrogen and phosphorus. With the increasing concerns on the negative impact of animal production systems on the environment, animal nutritionists and producers should be aware that sustainability of animal agriculture is as important as high production performance. Therefore, some feeding and management strategies described in this manuscript will help to reduce environmental pollution in swine production. Proper combination of feeding regimen and environment-friendly diet formulation through nutritional approach will be more effective to reduce nutrient excretion in swine production system compared to single approach to do so.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.3_spc
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• pp.354-362
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• 2021

Broiler chickens grow rapidly, and their nutrient requirements change daily. However, broilers are fed three to five diet phases, meaning nutrients are under or oversupplied throughout production. Increasing diet phases improves production efficiency as there is less time in the production cycle that nutrients are in under or over-supply. Nevertheless, the process of administering four or more diets is costly and often impractical. New technologies are now available to blend feed to match the daily nutrient requirements of broilers. Thus, the aim of this review is to evaluate previous studies measuring the impact of increasing feed phases on nutrient utilisation and growth performance, and review recent studies taking this concept to the extreme; precision nutrition - feeding a new diet for each day of the production cycle. This review will also discuss how modern precision feeding technologies have been utilised and the potential that new technologies may bring to the poultry industry. The development of a precision nutrition regime which targets daily requirements by blending dietary components on farm is anticipated to improve the efficiency of production, reduce production cost and therefore improve sustainability of the industry. There is also potential for precision feeding technology along with precision nutrition strategies to deliver a plethora of other management and economic benefits. These include increased fluidity to cope with sudden environmental or market changes, and the ability to alter diets on a farm by farm level in a large, integrated operation. Thus, the future possibilities and practical implications for such technologies to generate a paradigm shift in feed formulation within the poultry industry to meet the rising demand for animal protein is also discussed.