Evaluation of Sweet Potato Vine Meal as a Ruminant Feed Ingredient in Delta State

This study evaluates sweet potato vine meal as a dietary ingredient for West African Dwarf sheep in Delta State, South South Nigeria. Sweet potato is widely cultivated in Delta State as both a food security crop and commercial product, generating large volumes of vine residues at harvest that are currently underutilised as livestock feed. Sweet potato vines are rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals and represent a potentially valuable supplementary feed resource for small ruminants in the zone. This study tests four dietary treatment levels in a completely randomised design: 0, 15, 30, and 45 percent inclusion of sun-dried sweet potato vine meal as a replacement for Digitaria grass hay in a basal diet fed to 20 WAD sheep in groups of 5 per treatment. Feed intake, daily weight gain, digestibility, nitrogen retention, and blood chemistry are measured over 84 days. Findings reveal that 30 percent sweet potato vine meal inclusion achieves the highest daily weight gain of 82 grams per day and the best nitrogen retention among all treatments. Feed intake is significantly higher in the sweet potato vine treatments than the hay-only control due to higher palatability. Digestibility coefficients are superior for sweet potato vine-inclusive diets. The 45 percent inclusion level shows no advantage over 30 percent. Blood biochemical parameters remain within normal ranges at all inclusion levels. The study concludes that 30 percent sun-dried sweet potato vine meal significantly improves WAD sheep growth performance and recommends its use as a dry season ruminant feed supplement in Delta State farming systems.

Keywords: sweet potato vine meal, WAD sheep, ruminant feeding, Delta State, dry season supplement.