GROWTH PERFORMANCE, PIGLETS SIZE AND PROFITABILITY OF NATIVE PIGS FED WITH KITCHEN LEFTOVER, MADRE DE AQUA (Trichantera gigantea) AND TARO (Colocasia esculenta) IN CONTRAST WITH COMMERCIAL FEEDS

Hog raisers of today consider feeds to be the most expensive component in hog enterprise. Thus, the study of the Comparative Effects of low-cost indigenous Feeds and Commercial Feeds on the Growth and Profitability of Native Pigs. Effects of indigenous feeds and commercial feeds on the growth and profitability of native pigs. This study was carried out to determine the effect of indigenous feeds and commercial feeds on the growth and profitability of native pigs. A total of 12 heads of piglets were distributed into 4 treatments with 3 replications. Results revealed that feeding native pigs with different mixtures of indigenous and commercial feeds has a significant effect on the initial weight; however, based on the results, it was [T.sub.4](100% commercial feeds) that showed a numerically heavier initial weight among all treatments fed with a different mixture of indigenous feeds, while in terms of weight gain, results showed that [T.sub.1] was given 50% taro and 50% leftovers compared quantitatively to [T.sub.4] fed 100% commercial feeds. Comparable differences were observed from [T.sub.1]-[T.sub.3], where an average of 2,253.08 kg of feed per head was consumed. In other words, pigs consumed the maximum amount of feed given with a minimal feed leftover up to an average of 1.43 kg. Results revealed that feeds consumed by native pigs were numerically higher in [T.sub.1]- taro (50%) kitchen leftover (50%) followed by [T.sub.3], [T.sub.2] (80% Taro & 20% Kitchen leftover), while [T.sub.4] with commercial feeds consumed 1,258.80 kg. In [T.sub.3], 80% taro and 20% kitchen leftover, gave an average number of 8 piglets, followed by [T.sub.2] with 7 piglets, [T.sub.1] with 6 piglets, and [T.sub.4] with 5 piglets, while in average weight, [T.sub.4] has 0.8400 kg, [T.sub.2] with 0.8267 kg, [T.sub.3] with 0.6700 kg and [T.sub.1] with 0.5667 kg, respectively. [T.sub.3] have the highest profit of 11,707.60 pesos with Return on Investment (ROI) of 95.24%, followed by [T.sub.2] with profit of 7,351.60 pesos and 53.86% ROI, [T.sub.1] with 5,710.60 pesos and 46.47% ROI, and [T.sub.4] with -43,180.40 pesos and ROI of -25.78%. Key words: commercial feeds, indigenous feeds, kitchen Leftover, native pigs, piglet size, profitability, taro
INTRODUCTION The demand for concentrated feed resources is rising globally, particularly in the tropics where many nations are net food importers. Although using forage plants as feed for pigs is [...]