History of Animal Nutrition
An appreciation of the history of earlier studies can stimulate future progress
Present status of feed industry would not have been possible without the sincere efforts taken by these personalities. This is a small tribute for these eminent scientists who bring nobility and prosperity in our lives
Present status of feed industry would not have been possible without the sincere efforts taken by these personalities. This is a small tribute for these eminent scientists who bring nobility and prosperity in our lives
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| Santario Sanctorius (1561-1636) | Weighted himself before and after eating food; his weight increased by amount of food he consumed which came to original after some time. |
| Antoine Lavoisor (1743 – 1794) | Introduced balance and thermometer to nutritional studies; he showed that oxygen absorbed and carbon dioxide given off is dependent on the food intake and work done; acknowledged as Father of Nutrition Science |
| Albrecht Thaer (1752 – 1828) | Publish Hay equivalents; He used meadow hay as a unit to compare other feeds |
| G.J. Mulder | Gave name Proteins |
| Francis Magendie (1783 – 1855) | Physiologst; recognized as founder of modern feeding experiments; publish gelatin report |
| Justus von Liebig (1803 – 1873) | Foremost organic chemist; founder of agriculture chemistry |
| William Prout (1827 – ) | Recognized protein, fat and carbohydrates as essential organic nutrients |
| Stephen M. Babcock (1843 – 1941) | Babcock Test; first inexpensive and practical test factories could use to determine the fat content of milk. |
| Emilvon Wolff | In 1864 devised feed standard based on digestible protein, fat and carbohydrates; Wolff standards modified by G. Lehmann standards for various classes of animals & become Wolff Lehmann Standards |
| Nathan Zuntz (1847 – 1920) | First to formulate “fermentation hypothesis” to explain the mechanism of forage utilization by ruminants. |
| Wilbur Olin Atwater (1844,1907) | Construction of first human-respiration calorimeter; gives available fuel values of the feed |
| Oscar Kellner (1851 1911) | Gives starch equivalent system of energy evaluation. |
| Henry Prentiss Armsby (1851 – 1921) | Constructed respiration calorimeter for farm animals and studied heat production in cattle; develop net energy system for evaluating feed; he published Wolff standards in his book named “Manual of Cattle Feeding”; formulate Armsby feeding standard based on true protein and net energy values in 1917. |
| Max Rubner (1854 – 1932) | He showed that carbohydrate and fats are interchangeable in metabolism on the basis of energy equivalents; formulate Rubner factors to Atwater fuel values |
| Fjord | In 1884 ford formulated Scandinavian feed unit Standard similar to hay equivalent; |
| F.B. Morrison (1887 – 1958) | He wrote Feeds and feeding & published his own feeding standards in 1915; called them Morrison feeding standards; expressed in terms of DM, DCP, TDN and Net energy; He gives a range of nutrient requirement rather single value; Average of Morrison’s standards have been accepted for Indian Livestock. |
| Leonard Amby Maynard (1887 – 1972) | Prepare recommended nutrient allowances for various farm animals; authored a very popular textbook on animal nutrition. |
| Max Kleiber (1893 – 1975) | Develop the use of weight to the 0.75 power instead of surface area to describe energy metabolism. |
| Leng and Nolan | Use isotope technique to provide detailed information on VFA production. |
| Frap | Frap’s feeding standards, based on DM, DCP &Productive values. |
| ARC | In 1950s in UK technical committee Agriculture Research Council was setup to develop the standards. |
| AFRC | Soon ARC came to known as Agriculture Food Research Council. |
| CLFMA | CLFMA was formed in June 1967 as an association of feed manufacturers and associated industries such as ingredient suppliers, importers, feed additive manufacturers, consultants, hatcheries and milk cooperatives and feed machinery manufacturers. The objectives of CLFMA are to promote the concept of nutritionally balanced compound feed; to promote, assist, organize and coordinate scientific research in the field of animal nutrition; to conduct, assign, sponsor or co-sponsor surveys and studies; to collect, classify and circulate information related to animal feed to its members and government; to offer suggestions to government in formulating policies; and to impart training to livestock farmers, feed mill personnel, veterinarians, students and others. |
| TCORN | In 1983, AFRC set up a single organization for UK, Technical Committee on Responses to Nutrients which develop practical manuals and publish requirements for ruminants, swine & poultry in three separate reports. |
| NRC | National Research Council of USA publishes the nutrient requirements for all type of farm animals since 1985. |
| Garret, Lofgreen & co workers | Proposed net energy system for beef cattle; efficiency of utilization of ME is different for different purposes that is why NE is vary with purpose |
| Sen and Ray | In 1964, first Indian standards for dairy cattle based on mid Morrison values of 1954 |
| ICAR | Indian Council of Agriculture Research published the first report on the nutrient requirements of livestock and poultry in 1985. |
| Dr. S. K. Ranjhan | Pioneer in nutrition research in India;revised second edition of ICAR report in 1998. |