The study conducted at the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria in Brazil reveals significant economic advantages of using banana peel (BP) and sweet potato vine (SPV) as the sole food sources for rabbits, in lieu of traditional, more expensive feeds like maize and alfalfa hay. Feeding rabbits with a diet composed entirely of BP and SPV resulted in a 57% reduction in diet costs and a 32.55% increase in profit margin per rabbit, without impacting the sale prices of the rabbits.
This research underscores the potential of unconventional feeds in making livestock farming more sustainable and cost-effective, echoing broader interest in using agricultural by-products as animal feed to cut costs and enhance environmental sustainability.