Pig-feed garden

Pig-feed gardening is the planting of rootcrops, vegetables, leguminous trees and nonconventional feedstuff on a piece of land, approximately 200 sq m. The garden can support 4-5 average-size pigs.

Table 10. recommended plants for the pig feed garden (PFG).

Plant	Parts used	Propagation
A.Protein sources
Madre de cacao	Leaves, stems, flowers, young fruits	Seeds and cuttings
Gliricidia sepium
Kakawati (Tagalog)
Ipil-ipil	Leaves, stems, flowers, young fruits	Seeds and cuttings
Leucaena leucocephala
Cowpea Visna sinensis Paayap (Tagalog)	Leaves, stems, flowers, young fruits	Seeds
Hyacinth bean Dolichos lablab Bataw (Tagalog)	Leaves, stems, flowers, young fruits	Seeds
Cassava	Leaves	Cuttings
Manihot esculenta
Kamoteng Kahoy (Tagalog)
Balinghoy (Bicol)
B. Energy sources
Corn	Grain	Seeds
Zea mays
Mais (Tagalog)
Cassava	Root	Cuttings
Manihot esculenta
Kamoteng Kahoy (Tagalog)
Balinghoy (Bicol)
Sweet potato	Root	Cuttings
Ipomea batatas		Rootsprouts, root
Kamoteng (Tagalog)
Gabi	Corm	Sucker, rhizomes, corms
Colocasia esculenta
Ubi (white)	Tuber	Sucker, tuber
Dioscorea a/ata
Ube (Tagalog)
Arrowroot	Root	Sucker, Rootbits
Maranta arudinacea
Oraro (Luzon, Visayas)
Sago (Panay)
Tugui	Tuber	Tuber
Dioscorea esculenta
Tugui, tugue (Luzon)
Apali/Apari/
Tam-is (Visayas)
Buri	Stem	Seed
Coreypa alata
Sorghum	Grains	Seed
C. Vitamin and mineral sources
Malunggay	Leaves, stems, flowers, fruits	Seeds and cuttings
Moringa oleifera
Amaranth	Leaves	Seeds
Amarantus spinosus
Ural (llokano)
Kulitis (Bicol, Tagalog)
Sweet potato	Leaves, vines	Cuttings, roots, rootsprouts
Ipomoea batatas
Kamote
Japanese malunggay	Leaves	Seeds, cuttings
Sauropus androgenus
Gabi	Leaves, petioles	Sucker, rhizomes, corms
Colocasia esculenta
D. Water sources
Sweet potato	Leaves, stems, flowers	Cuttings, roots rootsprouts
Ipomoea batatas
Kamote
Kangkong (aquatica)	Leaves, vines	Seeds and cuttings
Ipomoea aquatica

Considerations:

1. Factors considerad in the selection of plants are:

a. availability
b. nutritional content
c. drought resistance
d. disease resistance
e. can be planted on a variety of soil
f. perennial, annual plants

2. In areas where free water abounds, other feedstuffs like Azolla, Galiang (Alocasia macrorrhiza) and kangkong (lowland) can be planted. Azolla is high in protein (17-28 percent CP). Galiang is a good source of energy while kangkong is also a good source of water, vitamin and minarals.

3. Other non-conventional feedstuffs can be used as pig feed (See Table 11)

TABLE 11 Other non-conventional feedstuffs

Plant	Parts used	Propagation
Talinum	Leaves, stems	Cuttings
T. triangulare
Espinacas
Ulasiman	Leaves, stems	Cuttings
Portulaca oleracea
Alugbati	Leaves, stems,	Cuttings
Base/h alba	flowers, fruits
Grana
Nami	Tuber	Tuber
Dioscorea hispida
Namo (Luzon)
Kalut, Kurot, Kuwot (Visayas, Mindanao)
Pongapong	Leaves, stems, corms	Cormels
Amorphallus campanulatus
Bagong (Visayas)
Banana	Stems, corms, body, leaves	Cormels
Musa sp.
Saging (Tagalog)
Batag (Bicol)

4. Kitchen left-overs can be added to improve the nutritional value of the feed. These are:

a. fish and rice washings
b. Egg shells
c. Fruit peelings
d. Over-ripe fruits
e. snails (Golden kuhol)

5. Pig feed garden (PFG) provides a source of:

a. less expensive and locally available feed ingredients
b. nutritious and palatable feedstuffs
c. green manure
d. alternative medications for pigs and other animals
e. extra income for the farmers
f. nutritious food for the family

6. Management care

a. A fence should be provided around the garden.
b. Apply compost and green manure to fertilize crops.
c. Provide drainage on waterlogged areas.
d. Plant insect-repellants.
e. Regularly weed and/or water the plants.

7. The PFG can start feeding pigs from 3 weeks to 3 months, depending on type of plants used.

8. Feeding value of some common feedstuffs is influenced to a certain extent by the way they are prepared for feeding.

Table 12. Preparation of some common

Feed Stuff	Toxin	Preparation	Rationale
Cowpea Hyacinth bean	Trypsin- inhibiting factor	Cooking	Nutritional availability of protein is increased. Destroys anti- enzyme that depresses growth.
Cassava	Hydrocyanic acid	Washing	Toxic constituent is removed.
Gabi Tugui Ubi	Calcium oxalate	Cooking	Palatability is improved because itchiness is removed.
Buri	Pounding and drying of stem		Powder is collected.
Nami	Dioscorine	Sliced placed in sacks soaked in free flowing water for 3 days. Once snails are seen clinging to the sack, it means toxic substance has been washed out and could then be used as feed.	To get rid of toxic substance
Snails		Pounding	To improve palatability and digestibility of protein and calcium
Pongapong	Calcium oxalate	Cooking	To improve palatability

Land Preparation and Planting

Land area should be cleared of all weeds before the bed preparation and planting. The fence line can be utilized for planting annual and perennial plants like horseradish tree, hyacinth bean, cassava, Gliricidia, Leucaena, ubi and tugui. Bio-intensive gardening (BIG) can be adapted for planting the other crops for the pig-feed garden.

Pig feed garden