Economic evaluation of mineral sources of phosphorus (national and imported) in pig feed.

Introduction: Food grade inorganic phosphates are normally used for phosphorus (P) supplementation in diets for pigs, since the grains and by-products used in the formulation of diets do not cover the P requirements, these phosphates are normally imported having a high share of the cost within the formulation, therefore it is necessary to find a source of good quality P at a competitive price to maximize the efficiency in the use of this nutrient. Objective: To economically and productively evaluate diets made with three sources of national and imported phosphates. Methods: The study was carried out at the San Pablo Agricultural Station of the National University of Colombia, in a complete cycle pig production system. 30 pigs were taken in the lifting stage, they were administered 3 diets (Diet A: source of imported monodicalcium phosphate, diet B: source of national monodicalcium phosphate and diet C: source of national monodicalcium phosphate) for a period of 30 days, during which weekly weight, weight gain, consumption, and food conversion were measured. Results and Discussion: The productive response of pigs fed with different sources of phosphorus, under this study in terms of final weight, weight gains, consumption and feed conversion did not present a statistically significant difference (P>0.05), however, the diet B presented lower cost. per kg/feed followed by diet A and C respectively, but diet C presented a better cost-benefit since the pigs fed with this diet managed to have better weights with lower feed consumption. Conclusion: The sources of phosphorus of national origin used in this work to feed growing pigs are profitable sources that presented a lower production cost per kg of feed and that also showed similar results to the imported sources in terms of the parameters zootechnicians evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]