Open AccessArticle
Modelling Nutritional Requirements of Growing Pigs from Local Breeds Using InraPorc
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PEGASE, INRA, Agrocampus-Ouest, 35590 Saint-Gilles, France
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EEZ, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Profesor Albareda s/n, 18008 Granada, Spain
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ICAAM—Instituto de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais Mediterrânicas, Universidade de Évora, Pólo da Mitra, Ap. 94, 7006-554 Évora, Portugal
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Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo (IPVC)—Centro de Investigação de Montanha (CIMO), Praça General Barbosa, 4900 Viana de Castelo, Portugal
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Dip.Scienze e Tecnologie Agrarie, University of Florence, Alimentari, Ambientali e Forestali (DAGRI), Via delle Cascine 5, 50144 Firenze, Italy
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IAH-Institute for Animal Husbandry, Autoput za Zagreb 16, 11080 Belgrade-Zemun, Serbia
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KIS-Agricultural Institute of Slovenia, Hacquetova ul. 17, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 27 March 2019
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Revised: 8 April 2019
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Accepted: 15 April 2019
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Published: 16 April 2019
Simple Summary
Unlike with conventional pig breeds, knowledge on growth and performance, and even more so on nutritional requirements, is very limited for local breeds. Using a modelling approach based on a growth model and data from literature or experiments from H2020 European Union project TREASURE, we determined the growth characteristics and nutritional requirements of nine local breeds (Alentejana, Basque, Bísara, Apulo Calabrese, Cinta Senese, Iberian, Krškopolje pig, Mangalitsa, and Moravka). Our results confirmed the lower growth potential of local pig breeds compared to conventional pig breeds. Moreover, a larger proportion of ingested and retained energy is dedicated to lipid deposition in local pig breeds, explaining the higher fat composition of the carcasses of these breeds. Our study provided initial insights into the nutritional requirements (such as amino-acids) of local pig breeds, providing a first step towards defining feeding strategies better adapted to the characteristics of these breeds.