The Bad Air Sponge

If your interest is piggery and poultry, you have today and tomorrow to attend the 2nd International Animal Health Genetics and Nutrition Congress (INAHGEN 2008) which is being held at the SMX Convention Center at the Mall of Asia in Pasay City.

Although it is just in its second staging, it is proving to be the country’s biggest livestock and poultry show. According to Jimmy Chua, expo chairman, it has become a world class event. The almost one-hectare indoor exhibition area is fully occupied by local as well as foreign exhibitors. Holland, for instance, has a big pavilion featuring the agricultural products and inputs from that country.

There are many probiotic products being exhibited by various companies. One of them is Bio-Kleen Pro, a high concentrate probiotic from Green Era Biotech Corporation. This is a product from three main groups of microorganisms, namely lactic acid bacteria, yeast, and proteolytic bacteria. When added in small amounts to the feed, it helps in the digestion and absorption of nutrients inside the intestines. The good bacteria will proliferate to counter the harmful bacteria.

As a result, the animals, pigs and poultry, have higher immunity. Piglets and fatteners are claimed to have higher resistance against respiratory diseases, achieving better feed efficiency and higher average daily gain in weight.

In poultry, it increases egg production, egg weight and reduces ammonia level inside the farmhouse, thus preventing respiratory diseases as well. Bio-Kleen Pro is also claimed to eliminate flies inside the farm. After a long period of using the product, animal manure becomes drier and is therefore not favorable for larvae to multiply.

Another product of Green Era Biotech is Golden Protein, a feed ingredient consisting of fermented soya. It is claimed to increase the appetite of animals because of its good palatability with a unique smell due to its 11 percent increase in glutamic acid after fermentation.

Feeds with Golden Protein are claimed to be highly digestible because the protein is already broken down to smaller peptides by the bacteria. It helps reduce foul smell in the farm because the product can decompose the ammonia produced by bad bacteria, thus reducing the foul odor in the manure.

While Toto Barcelona is better known for his seeds of hybrid vegetables and other high-value crops, he has joined INAHGEN not only to promote his hybrid crops but also new products for livestock and poultry. One of the items he is promoting is Alaska Bear Fish Meal which is claimed to be particularly beneficial to weaning baby pigs and breeding sows, as well as chicks of broilers and layers.

The raw materials consist of fresh meat of shark and whale, head and tail of salmon and tuna. The product contains 65 to 69 percent protein.

Another probiotic product that Barcelona is promoting is Anilov XO which is a feed additive for the establishment and maintenance of a favorable intestinal microflora in pigs and poultry.

Then he is also promoting greenhouse structures from France which are not necessarily for the growing of plants but for the housing of farm animals like goats, sheep, cattle, poultry and others.

Of course, Barcelona has displayed his leafy greens as well as his Red Lady papaya. They are attractions among products for pigs and chickens. His Red Lady papaya fruits are truly attractive.

Engr. Walther Alvarez of Atovi fame is also participating in INAHGEN. His product is added to animal feeds, boosting digestibility, enhancing the animal’s immune system, and reducing foul odor in the manure.

There are a wide array of products to see at INAHGEN, so don’t fail to attend.