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Annex 1. Mulberry, an exceptional forage available almost worldwide

Manuel D. Sánchez
Animal Production Officer
Animal Production and Health Division.
FAO, Rome

SUMMARY

Mulberry (Morus sp.), the traditional feed for the silkworm, has been selected and improved for leaf yield and quality in many environments and is spread throughout the world. Mulberry leaves are highly palatable and digestible (70-90 percent) for herbivorous animals and can also be fed to monogastrics. Protein content in the leaves and young stems, with a good essential amino acid profile, varies from 15 to 28 percent depending on the variety. Mineral content is high and no antinutritional factors or toxic compounds have been identified. The establishment of this perennial forage is through stakes or seed, and it is harvested by leaf picking or cutting whole branches or stems. Yields depend on variety, location (monthly temperature, solar radiation and rainfall), plant density, fertilizer application and harvesting techniques but, in terms of digestible nutrients, mulberry produces more than most traditional forages. The leaves can be used as supplements replacing concentrates for dairy cattle; as the main feed for goats, sheep and rabbits; and as an ingredient in monogastric diets.

INTRODUCTION

Mulberry (Morus spp.) leaves have long been the traditional feed for the silkworm (Bombyx mori). There is evidence that sericulture started about 5 000 years ago (Yongkang Huo, South China Agricultural University, personal communication) and hence the domestication of mulberry. Mulberry has been selected and improved for leaf quality and yield over the centuries. Through silk production projects, mulberry has been taken to countries all over the world, and it has now spread from the temperate areas of northwest and central Asia, Europe and North America through the tropics of Asia, Africa and Latin America to the southern hemisphere (southern Africa and South America). There are mulberry varieties for many environments, from sea level to altitudes of 4 000m (FAO, 1990), and from the humid tropics to semi-arid lands, such as in the Near East with 250 mm of annual rainfall and the southwestern United States (Tipton, 1994). Mulberry is also produced under irrigation. Although the majority of silk production projects have had limited duration because of silk processing constraints and limited market opportunities, mulberry trees have remained in most places where they have been introduced.

The main use of mulberry globally is as feed for the silkworm but, depending on the location, it is also appreciated for its fruit (consumed fresh, in juice or as preserves), as a delicious vegetable (young leaves and stems), for its medicinal properties in infusions (mulberry leaf tea), for landscaping and as animal feed. In Peru the multiple uses of mulberry have been recognized (Zepeda, 1991). There are several countries where mulberry is utilized traditionally as a feed in mixed forage diets for ruminants, such as in certain areas of India, China and Afghanistan. In Italy there have been several studies on the use of mulberry for dairy cows and other domestic animals (Vezzani, 1938; Maymone, Tiberio and Triulzi, 1959; Bonciarelli and Santilocchi, 1980; FAO, 1993) and in France a research project was undertaken to introduce mulberry in livestock production (Armand, 1995). But it was only in the 1980s that specific interest in the intensive cultivation and use of mulberry as animal feed started in Latin America. It is surprising that a plant that has been improved for leaf quality and yield to feed the silk worm, which has high nutritional feed requirements, has received such limited attention from livestock producers, technicians and researchers.

Like several significant breakthroughs in science and technology, the discovery of the value of mulberry as a high-quality feed in Latin America happened serendipitously. A Costa Rican farmer of Chinese origin, whose silk project had failed, fed mulberry leaves to his goats and was impressed by the palatability of the leaves and by the performance of his animals. He communicated his observations to scientists at the Tropical Agriculture Research and Training Center (CATIE), who were receptive to the farmer's news and forward thinking enough to include mulberry in their tree fodder evaluations and later in agronomic and animal performance trials (J. Benavides, personal communication). In Africa, the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) in Kenya and the Livestock Production Research Institute in the United Republic of Tanzania have also conducted successful agronomic and animal trials by themselves, apparently without being aware of the interest elsewhere.

Genetic resources

Mulberry belongs to the Moraceae family (subtype angiosperms; class dicotyledons; subclass urticales) and there are several species: Morus alba, M. nigra, M. indica, M. laevigata, M. bombycis, etc. which have been used directly, or through crossings and induced mutations, for the development of varieties to support silkworm production. The diploid M. alba (2n=2x=28) is the species most widely spread, but polyploid varieties, which originated in various research stations in Asia, show greater leaf yields and quality. In general, polyploid varieties have thicker and larger leaves of a darker green colour, and produce more leaves. There is a large variation in leaf production and in leaf quality (e.g. protein content) among the many species and in the varieties and cultivars grown at different locations under a wide range of soil and environmental conditions, indicating the huge potential for identifying suitable germoplasm for most sites. Many of the references on mulberry in the literature do not specify which species or varieties were used. Names are often given based on leaf features. In many cases, locally grown varieties (native or criolla) seem to perform adequately, since they are probably well adapted to local conditions.

TABLE 1

Chemical composition (percentaje of dry matter) of mulberry

Variety

CP

CF

NDF

ADF

EE

Ash

Ca

P

Reference

Leaf










Hebbal

15.9

12.6



7.1

15.9

2.42

0.24

Narayana & Setty, 1977

Izatnagar1

15.0

15.3



7.4

14.3

2.41

0.24

Jayal & Kehar, 1962

Palampur1

15.0

11.8



5.1

15.5



Singh et al., 1984

Parbhani1

22.1

5.9



3.9

13.4

3.3

1.43

Deshmukh et al., 1993

Kanva-2

16.7

11.3

32.3


3.0

17.3

1.80

0.14

Trigueros & Villalta, 1997

Mpwapwa1

18.6


24.6

20.8


14.3



Shayo, 1997

Dominican

20.0



23.1

4.0

4.5

2.70


ITA#2, 1998

Criolla

19.8






1.90

0.28

Espinoza et al., 1999

Tigreada

21.1






2.74

0.38


Indonesia

20.1






2.87

0.33


Leaf & young stem

Tigreada

27.6

13.2




10.4


0.20

González et al., 1998

Indonesia

24.3

15.3




11.2


0.29

González et al., 1998

Criolla

27.6

16.9




11.8


0.26

González et al., 1998

Acorazonada

25.2

14.1




13.4


0.15

González et al., 1998

Koruso 212

11.0

10.0

22.0

20.6

5.9

13.9

3.13

0.37

Casoli et al., 1986

Koruso 213

8.0

11.8

24.7

24.5

5.3

19.3

4.76

0.37

Casoli et al., 1986

Young stem

Criolla

11.3






1.33

0.29

Espinoza et al., 1999

Tigreada

11.7






1.38

0.33


Indonesia

11.9






1.53

0.43


Dominican

4.7



48.2

1.7

1.3

1.61


ITA No.2, 1998

Stem

Dominican

3.8



50.2

1.0

1.8

1.10


ITA No.2, 1998

Mallur

11.5

34.0



2.7

9.32

1.56

0.20

Subba Rao et al., 1971

Bark

Mpwapwa

7.8


46.8

36.9


6.1



Shayo, 1997

Whole plant

Dominican

11.3



34.4

1.6

1.9

2.10


ITA No.2, 1998

1 Names of places where local varieties were used.
2 September 1982.
3 November 1983.
Composition and nutritive value

The results of chemical composition of mulberry fractions from various authors are given in Table 1. Crude protein content in leaves varies from as low as 15 percent to 28 percent depending on the variety, age of the leaves and growing conditions. In general, crude protein values can be considered similar to most legume forages. Fibre fractions are low in mulberry leaves compared with other foliages. Shayo (1997) reported lignin (acid detergent lignin) contents of 8.1 percent and 7.1 percent for leaves and bark, respectively. A striking feature of mulberry leaves is the mineral content, with ash values up to 25 percent. Typical calcium contents are around 1.8 to 2.4 percent and phosphorus 0.14 to 0.24 percent. Espinoza, Benavides and Ferreire, (1999) found potassium values of 1.90-2.87 percent in leaves and 1.33-1.53 percent in young stems, and magnesium contents of 0.47-0.63 percent for leaves and 0.26-0.35 percent for young stems.

Table 2 shows the digestibility of mulberry. As can be seen, leaf digestibilities in vivo (goats) and in vitro are very high (>80 percent) and total digestibility is equivalent to that of most tropical forages. The degradation characteristics of mulberry, determined by the nylon bag technique, are presented in Table 3. Leaves would be completely degraded if they remained in the rumen for enough time (Maymone, Tiberio and Triulzi, 1959).

TABLE 2

Digestibility of mulberry

Method

Fraction

Digestibility (%)

Reference

In vivo (goats)

Leaf

78.4-80.8

Jegou et al., 1994

In vitro

Leaf

89.2

Araya, 1990, cited by Rodríguez et al., 1994

Leaf

80.2

Schenk, 1974, cited by Rodríguez et al., 1994

Leaf

89-95

Rodríguez et al., 1994

Stem

37-44

Rodríguez et al., 1994

Total

58-79

Rodríguez et al., 1994

Leaf

82.1

Shayo, 1997

Bark

60.3

Shayo, 1997


The average amino acid composition and N content of 119 mulberry varieties grown experimentally in Japan (Machii, 1989) are shown in Table 4. Tryptophane was not included in the analysis. As can be seen from the data, essential amino acids are over 46 percent of total amino acids. It can be calculated from the table that the average nitrogen (N) is 16.6 percent of the total molecular weight of the mulberry amino acids (plus ammonia), and thus the converting factor from N to mulberry protein is 6.02. The 204.3 mg of amino acids per g of protein is equivalent to 3.47 percent N, which is 80 percent of total N in mulberry leaves. Once tryptophane is subtracted, the difference, a non-protein fraction, is likely to be composed of nucleic acids and other unidentified N compounds.

The most important protein in mulberry leaves, as in most leaves, is ribulose-1.5-bisphosphate carboxylase (RuBisCO) whose active site is responsible for carbon fixation (Kellogg and Juliano, 1997). Nitrogen in RuBisCO can be 43 percent of the total nitrogen in mulberry (Yamashita and Ohsawa, 1990).

TABLE 3

In sacco degradation of mulberry

Fraction

 

Parameter

Reference

a

b

a + b

c

Leaf

35.7

64.0

99.7

0.0621

ITA No.2, 1998

Whole plant

30.4

46.2

76.6

0.0667

ITA No.2, 1998

Leaf & young stem

27.8

48.95

76.8

0.0300

González et al., 1998


TABLE 4

Amino acids and N content of mulberry varieties (Machii, 1989) and soybean meal

Compound

Soybean meal

Mulberry

content (mg/g DM)

%1

Content (mg/g DM)

SD

%1

Non essential amino acids

n.a.2


108.93


53.3

Essential amino acids (EAA):






Lysine

32.92

6.7

12.33

2.58

6.0

Methionine

7.30

1.5

2.99

0.61

1.5

Threonine

20.34

4.1

10.52

1.75

5.2

Valine

26.29

5.3

12.83

2.17

6.3

Isoleucine

26.85

5.4

10.04

1.88

4.9

Leucine

39.55

8.0

19.45

3.10

3.1

Tyrosine

14.38

2.9

7.40

1.39

3.6

Phenylalanine

25.51

5.2

12.26

2.06

6.0

Histidine

12.92

2.6

4.61

0.82

2.3

Trytophane

6.97

1.4

na2

-

-

Total EAA

213.03

43.1

92.433

-

45.3

Ammonia (NH3)

na2


2.89

0.54

1.4

Total (AA + NH3)

494.38

100

204.25


100

Nitrogen (percent)

7.91


4.36

9.63


1 Percentage of the amino acid in the total sum of amino acids (plus ammonia).
2 Not available. 3 Without Tryptophane
Source: 4 Machii, 1989; 5 NRC, 1984.
Palatability. One of the main features of mulberry as forage is its high palatability. Small ruminants avidly consume the fresh leaves and the young stems first, even if they have never been exposed to it before. Then, if the branches are offered unchopped, they may tear them off and eat the bark. Cattle consume the whole biomass if it is finely chopped.

There is a report (Jegou, Waelput and Brunschwig, 1994) of ad libitum DM intake of 4.18 percent of liveweight (average of three lactating goats), which is much higher than in other tree fodders. Jayal and Kehar (1962) reported DM intakes of mulberry leaves of 3.44 percent of body weight in sheep under experimental conditions. Animals initially prefer mulberry over other forages when they are offered simultaneously, and will even dig through a pile of various forages to look for it (Antonio Rota, FAO Barbados, personal communication). In a comparative study, Prasad and Reddy (1991) reported higher daily dry matter intakes of mulberry leaves in sheep than in goats (3.55 against 2.74 kg DM/100 kg body weight).

Agronomy

Establishment. The most common planting method worldwide is by stem cuttings, but in certain places seed is preferred. As is the case with other tropical perennial forages for cut-and-carry systems, planting by seed assures deeper roots with a greater capacity to find water and nutrients that eventually results in higher biomass production and greater longevity. Seeds might be the most acceptable way of transporting, quarantine and store selected materials. The advantages of stem reproduction (cloning) are certainty of production characteristics, practicality in obtaining material and ease of planting. Male plants might be preferred when introducing foreign germoplasm to new locations since this prevents involuntary expansion (Morgan P. Doran, University of California, Davis, United States, personal communication). As in most perennial forages, the time and the establishment cost (mainly for land preparation, planting and weed control) are critical for the successful introduction of mulberry.

Cultivation. Mulberry is cultivated for fruit as isolated trees or in orchards; for small-scale silkworm rearing along boundaries or along food crops in mixed farming systems; for large silk projects or for intensive forage production in pure stands; and also for forage in association with N-fixing legumes (FAO, 1993; González and Mejía, 1994). Mulberry is also found mixed with other trees in natural forests or plantations.

Fertilization. All the required nutrients for mulberry growth must come from the soil, since mulberry does not fix atmospheric nitrogen. In pure stands, mineral and organic fertilizers (animal and vegetable manures) must be used to replenish the nutrients removed with the foliage in order to maintain a sustainable production. The association with legumes with effective N-fixing rhizobium can reduce N inputs and may be the most desirable combination for some farms, but even when recycling nutrients in animal manures, extra chemical fertilizers are required for maximum yields (J.E. Benavides, personal communication). Responses of mulberry to N fertilizers have been clearly demonstrated, both in inorganic and organic forms, with better responses to the latter (Table 5). According to Kamimura et al. (1997), the nitrogen level in soils is the major factor for mulberry growth.

Harvest and preservation. For silkworm feeding, individual leaf picking, shoot harvesting and whole branch cutting are practised, depending on the feed requirements of the silkworm larvae stages and harvesting costs (FAO, 1988). For silkworms, leaves are offered fresh some other forms of feeding are being developed. For ruminant feeding, the preferred method has been branch cutting by hand, although mechanical harvesting could be employed in the future for direct feeding of fresh material on a large scale, for processing or for drying. Forage conservation by ensiling has been successfully achieved (Vallejo, 1995; González, 1996, cited by Benavides, 1999) and there have been some preliminary studies on leaf drying (Ojeda et al., 1998). Leaf blades dry within hours under full sun but more time is required for petioles and stems. Some conditioning (e.g. passing through rollers) may help to reduce water content and minimize the deterioration of leaf quality by over exposure. Diploid varieties dry more quickly since they tend to have more stomata per unit of leaf area (Govindan, Narayanaswamy, 1988).

TABLE 5

Effect of goat manure or ammonium nitrate application on total DM yields during three consecutive years

Year

Level of manure (tonnes DM/ha/year)

NH4NO3

0

2401

3601

4801

4801

12

23.0c

24.4bc

26.6b

31.1a

26.7b

2

21.3c

25.2b

27.6ab

33.4a

29.7b

3

22.9d

28.2c

32.6b

38.2a

29.2b


1 kg of N/ha/year. 2 Values with the same letter horizontally do not differ (P >0.001).

Yields. The production of leaf and total DM per hectare of mulberry depends on the variety, the location, plant density, fertilizer applications and harvesting techniques. Table 6 gives the yields of mulberry in various locations. Total biomass yield and leaf proportion vary with species and varieties. Climate (moisture and solar radiation) and soil fertility are determining factors on productivity (Espinoza, Benavides and Ferreire, 1999). Increasing planting density increases leaf yields (Gong, Ren and Wang, 1995).

Fresh leaf yields of 40 tonnes/ha/year (approximately 10 tonnes of dry matter) have been reported in India (Mehla, Patel and Tripathi, 1987) and in Costa Rica (Espinoza, Benavides and Ferreire, 1999). Maximum dry matter yields of edible material (leaves and young stems) and total biomass were 15.5 and 45.2 tonnes/ha/year, respectively. Total leaf DM yields of less than 10 tonnes could be expected under less intensive production.

TABLE 6

Examples of mulberry yields

Location

Variety

Fraction

Yield (tonnes/ha/year)

Reference

Fresh

DM

Karnataka, India

 

M-5


Leaf

40


Mehla et al., 1987

Stem

52



Mpwapwa, Tanzania

 

Local

Leaf


8.5

Shayo, 1997

Stem


14.1


Bark


2.7


San José, Costa Rica

Tigreada

Leaf and young stem


11.0

Espinoza et al., 1999

Indonesia

Leaf and young stem


8.7


Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Tigreada

Leaf and young stem


13.4


Indonesia

Leaf and young stem


12.5


Matanzas, Cuba

Tigreada

Total biomass

30


González et al., 1998

Acorazonada

Total biomass

33



Indonesia

Total biomass

26



Local

Total biomass

30



Cuyutla, Guatemala

Local

Total biomass

37


Rodríguez et al., 1994


Leaves

16



Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, China

Shin Ichinose

Leaves

32


Gong et al., 1995


Branches

28




Stems

8



Kalimpong, W. Bengal, India

Local

Leaves

22


Tikader et al., 1993

BC 259

Leaves

20



TR 10

Leaves

19



C 763

Leaves

19




ANIMAL PERFORMANCE WITH MULBERRY

Ruminants

Although the feeding value of mulberry for dairy cattle has been recognized for some time in Italy (Vezzani, 1938; Maymone, Tiberio and Triulzi, 1959) and it has been traditionally used in Himalayan countries, research on mulberry for ruminants has been rather limited. Jayal and Kehar (1962), given on the high digestibility values of M. indica leaves, suggested that they could be used as supplements for lower-quality forages. Mulberry was used to replace grain-based concentrates in lactating cows with excellent results (Table 7). Yields did not significantly decrease when 75 percent of the concentrate was replaced with mulberry. Milk production increased with the levels of mulberry offered to goats on a King grass diet (Rojas and Benavides, 1994) as shown in Figure 1. At CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica, a module of two dairy goats (Saanen x Toggenburg), fed exclusively with forage from 775 m2 of mulberry (17 000 plants/ha), in association with Erythrina berteroana (5 128 trees/ha) just as green manure, and from 425 m2 of King grass, produced an average of four litres per day, equivalent to over 12 000 litres per ha/year (Oviedo, Benavides and Vallejo, 1994).

TABLE 7

Substitution of concentrates by mulberry in lactating Holstein cows grazing Kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum)

Parameter

Concentrate: Mulberry

100:0

60:40

25:75

Milk yield (kg/d)

14.2

13.2

13.8

Intake (kg MS/d):




Concentrate

6.4

4.2

1.9

Mulberry

0

2.8

5.5

Kikuyo grass

9.3

7.8

6.2

Total

15.7

14.8

13.6

Source: Esquivel et al., 1996.
Also in Costa Rica, liveweight gains of bulls belonging to the Romosinuano breed (a criollo type) fed Elephant grass, increased to over 900 g/day when mulberry was offered as a supplement at 1.7 percent of their body weight on a DM basis (González, 1996, cited by Benavides, 1999). Table 8 presents the results of an experiment in Guatemala with growing Zebu x Brown Swiss steers being fed increasing levels of mulberry as a supplement to a sorghum silage diet (Velázquez et al., 1994).

Figure 1. Milk yield and forage intake in goats fed increasing levels of mulberry on a King grass diet (Rojas & Benavides, 1994)

Source: Rojas and Benavides, 1994.
Although the growing rates with the highest mulberry level are not impressive (195 g/day), most likely because of the poor quality of the silage, this trial shows the high nutritive value of the supplement. Total intake and weight changes improved with the amount of mulberry offered reflecting its higher nutritive value compared to the basal diet. Daily gains of female calves (0-4 months) were not affected when mulberry leaves were offered ad libitum and the commercial concentrate reduced to 25 percent of the amount traditionally used (González and Mejía, 1994). In lambs, gains reached 100 g/day when King grass was supplemented with 1.5 percent dry matter of mulberry (Benavides, 1986).

Monogastrics

The silkworm has a relatively simple digestive system. In some ways it is comparable to that of monogastric animals, so that, in theory, mulberry leaves could also be used at least as one of the ingredients in monogastric diets. In a trial with growing pigs in which a commercial concentrate was replaced by up to 20 percent of mulberry leaf (Trigueros and Villalta, 1997), the best level of substitution was 15 percent. It increased daily gains from 680 g/day ith only concentrates, to 740 g/day and also gave the best economic results. In rabbits, the reduction of concentrate offered daily from 110 to 17.5 g with ad libitum fresh mulberry only reduced gains from 24 to 18 g/day, but decreased to more than half the cost of the meat produced (Lara y Lara, Sanginés and Dzib, et al., 1998). The combination of mulberry and Trichantera gigantea leaves, as the protein source, and blocks made of molasses, cassava root meal and rice bran, as the energy source, gave better reproduction and growth performance than a diet of commercial concentrates and grass (Le Thu Ha et al., 1996). Singh, Goel and Negi (1984) supplemented Angora rabbits, receiving pelleted diets, with mulberry leaves ad libitum and obtained intakes of mulberry equivalent to 29-38 percent of the total intake. This level significantly reduces feed cost. Deshmukh, Pathak and Takalikar (1993) fed mulberry leaves as the sole ration for adult rabbits. These authors found daily intakes of 68.5 g for dry matter, 11.2 g for crude protein and 175 kcal for digestible energy (equivalent to 2.55 Mcal of digestible energy per kg). The digestibility values were 74 percent for crude protein, 59 percent for crude fiber and 64 percent for dry matter. The authors concluded that mulberry leaves provided enough nutrients for maintenance. Narayana and Setty (1977) found better egg yolk colour and increased egg size and production with the inclusion (up to 6 percent) of shade-dried M. indica leaf meal in the mash of laying hens.

TABLE 8

Effect of mulberry supplementation level on intake and weight changes of Zebu x Brown Swiss steers fed on sorghum silage

Parameter

Mulberry level (% BW1)

0

0.5

1.0

1.5

DM intake (percent BW/day





Total

2.26

2.39

2.64

2.88

Sorghum silage

2.26

1.91

1.68

1.51

Daily gains (g/d)

- 128

- 29

164

195

1 BW = Body weight.
Source: Velázquez, et al., 1994.
Other small herbivores, such as guinea pigs, iguanas and snails, could also be fed mulberry leaves. In fact, wild green iguanas (Iguana iguana) came to feed on recently established mulberry fields in Costa Rica (J.E. Benavides, personal communication).

LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION SYSTEMS

The traditional way of using mulberry as animal feed in silkproducing areas is by providing ruminants with the residue left by the silkworm. A model of sericulture and milk production has been proposed by Mehla, Patel and Tripathi (1987), in which dairy cows receive mulberry residue and concentrates. The generation of edible protein and employment are much greater than with food grains. This refuse material is added to fish ponds for herbivorous carps in the Chinese dyke-pond system, which is one of the most intensive agricultural low-input systems in the world, and generates food and outputs for a large number of people (Korn, 1996). In these silk areas, as well as where mulberry grows wild, cut-and-carry systems are practised and it is the most obvious way of utilizing mulberry for livestock, either from pure stands or from associations with legumes (Benavides, Esquivel and Lozano, 1995). Mulberry foliage can constitute the supplement to low-quality forage (grass) based diets or as the main component of the ration.

A natural association of mulberry and livestock occurs in regions such as the Near East and Central Asia where mulberry trees are kept for fruit production. Fallen leaves in the autumn are consumed by domestic animals. Since fruit ripens in late spring or early summer, it may be possible to harvest leaves for forage one or more times before the winter.

The only suggestion of utilizing mulberry for direct grazing came from FAO (1993), proposing a complementary association with clover (Trifolium subterraneum) for sheep and cattle grazing in Tuscany (Italy). Mulberry benefits from the N fixation by the clover and contributes with high-quality forage during the summer. The association produces more forage over a longer period than the individual pure stands.

CONCLUSION

The net result of the long selection and improvement of mulberry has been that it is comparable or better than many other forage plants in terms of nutritional value and yield of digestible nutrients per unit of area, especially in tropical environments. Yield, quality and availability worldwide make mulberry a very important option for intensifying livestock systems, especially in those places where enough nutrients can be applied to obtain maximum response in biomass production. The high mineral content of mulberry foliage should be specifically taken into account in nutrient recycling and fertilizing schemes to prevent loss of soil fertility.

Considering its high quality and palatability, mulberry should be relatively more valuable as a feed, the smaller are the animals. Under equal circumstances, stock with higher nutrient requirements (per kg of liveweight) should be given preference when feeding mulberry.

The greatest immediate impact of mulberry in animal production would be in tropical areas if introduced as a supplement for lactating cows and as feed for growing calves. It could be grown near stables where simple harvesting and manuring practices could be implemented.

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